An allegation of sexual assault has hit the Supreme Court with a young woman intern accusing a sitting judge, who retired recently, of misbehaving with her in a hotel room last December when the nation was grappling with the gangrape of a woman in the capital.
The allegation, levelled by the young woman lawyer against an unnamed judge, was raised in the apex court before the Chief Justice with a plea that the issue be taken note of suo motu on the basis of media reports and an inquiry be initiated.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, before whom the matter was brought up by advocate M L Sharma, said "We are conscious of the fact."
The bench refused to pass any order when Sharma said that the matter is very serious and as the head of Indian judiciary, the CJI, should initiate inquiry on the allegation.
The woman, who graduated from National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) Kolkata this year and a fellow with an organisation, Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment, wrote about the alleged sexual harassment incident in a blog.
In the blog written on November 6 for Journal of Indian Law and Society, the lawyer said the incident took place last year when she was interning with the apex court judge.
"Last December was momentous for the feminist movement in the country - almost an entire population seemed to rise up spontaneously against the violence on women, and the injustices of a seemingly apathetic government. In the strange irony of situations that our world is replete with, the protests were the backdrop of my own experience.
