On Monday February 18, the Supreme Court made a complaint to Delhi Police after it emerged that Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court Thottathul B Radhakrishnan and the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court L Narayana Swamy received calls from an impersonator who claimed he was the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi.
According to the reports, the man was so convincing in his trick that two High Court Justices actually believed they were speaking to Gogoi. The impersonator asked them to suggest names of certain advocates to be elevated as judges of High Courts.
The matter came to light when the CJI recently held a routine conversation with the two judges.
Justice Swamy first received a call from a person, who is yet to be identified, claiming to be H K Juneja, personal private secretary to CJI Gogoi. He claimed that he was acting on behalf of the CJI who wanted the names of certain advocates in Karnataka High Court to be recommended for elevation as judges in the high court.
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The impersonator telephoned Justice Swamy again after two days, introduced himself as Juneja once again and this time said CJI Gogoi wanted to speak to Justice Swamy directly.
The impersonator or someone else then imitated Justice Gogoi’s voice and spoke to Justice Swamy, reiterating the request for elevating the advocates.
The same process was followed with Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan too.
A complaint has been lodged at the Tilak Marg police station. An internal probe has also been ordered by CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
Meanwhile, an advisory has been sent to the chief justices of all high courts, telling them not to entertain any calls that claim to be from the CJI or his office.
