A day after Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi denied sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by a former employee, a lawyer Utsav Bains has come in front claiming that he was bribed to be part of the conspiracy against Gogoi.
Taking to the Facebook, Utsav claimed that he was offered bribe to frame Gogoi in the sexual harassment case by lawyering and organising a Press Conference against him. However, Bains refused to do so as he thought the allegations were part of a well-planned conspiracy against CJI Gogoi.
The lawyer, who is fighting the Asaram Bapu case without taking money from the alleged victims, said he was approached a few days ago to take up the case of the accuser against Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
“When I refused, the person who was initially praising my pro bono work in the Asaram Rape case for the victim etc and interestingly claimed to be her relative, but on the other hand looked like a trained agent. He also couldn’t satisfactorily reply as to what was his relationship with the Ex SC staffer and then suddenly offered me 50 lacs as my legal fees if I agreed to lawyer, and again he asked me specifically to organise a press conference at the PCI (Press Club of India),” said the Harvard Law School alumnus in a Facebook post last evening.
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He said he refused to take up the case as he found the facts “fishy”.
He said he had the option of keeping quiet now that the allegations have been made official, but his conscience wouldn’t let him be.
On Saturday, a special bench of the top Court had called an emergency hearing after a former employee at the top court, in an affidavit to several judges, alleged she was sexually harassed by the CJI. The CJI rubbished all the allegations and alleged a conspiracy behind the allegations, saying that, the independence of judiciary is under very very serious threat. “This is unbelievable. I don’t think I should stoop low even to deny these allegations. If judges have to work under these conditions, good people will never come to this office”, the CJI said.
