The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Madhya Pradesh High Court registrar-general on the reinstatement plea of a former woman additional sessions judge who quit in 2014 after alleged sexual harassment by a high court judge.
A bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan sought the response of the high court registrar-general within six weeks.
Judicial officers at the district level are appointed by the respective high courts.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who appeared for the woman judge, told the bench that the appellant resigned in 2014 because of the alleged harassment at the hands of Justice S.K. Gangele, and that the resignation amounted to “termination” of services.
The petitioner had claimed that she was forced to resign as she had been transferred to a remote area for not bowing to the alleged sexual advances of Justice Gangele, who has since retired.
A committee of judges had in 2015 exonerated Justice Gangele and called the sexual harassment charges baseless.
The committee, appointed by then Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and having as members then Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud, then Delhi High Court Chief Justice V. Rohini and Rajasthan High Court judge A. Rastogi, had stated that the woman judge had apparently been under some mistaken notion.
The committee had noted that she had an impeccable track record and suggested that she could be considered for reinstatement.