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Retired Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur has said that the woman who accused Chief JusticeChief JusticeChief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment and subsequent victimisation was not fairly treated. In an op-ed article in The Indian Express published on Wednesday, Lokur hinted at “institutional bias” in the manner the Supreme Court initially dealt with the allegations.

On April 19, the woman had sent her complaint to 22 judges and called for an inquiry into the actions of Gogoi, who she said not only harassed her but was also responsible for her subsequent victimisation. Gogoi denied the allegations during a special hearing on April 20. The chief justice said he did not “deem it appropriate” to reply to the allegations but claimed they were part of a “bigger plot”, possibly one to “deactivate the office of the CJI”.

On April 30, she withdrew from the inquiry as she had not been allowed to have a lawyer present at depositions and was not informed about the procedure that would be followed. On May 6, the in-house committee rejected her complaint and the court’s secretary general said the panel had found “no substance” in her allegations. The next day, the complainant had asked the court’s in-house committee to give her a copy of their report exonerating Gogoi. The court official said that the inquiry committee’s report was not liable to be made public.