India’s Chief Justice accused of harassment

The chief justice of India’s Supreme Court has been accused of sexually harassing a female assistant, and a special panel of judges called an emergency meeting on Saturday to address the allegations.

The 35-year-old woman has filed an affidavit alleging two instances of misconduct in October last year, shortly after Gogoi was appointed.

She says her family was victimized after she refused the advances.

A statement said Gogoi, 64, "totally denied" the "false and scurrilous" accusations. He has labeled them an attempt to "destabilize the judiciary".

The allegations were filed in a sworn affidavit that has been sent to Supreme Court judges.

In it the married woman, who cannot be named under Indian law, alleges the misconduct occurred on 10 and 11 October at the offices in Gogoi's residence.

She alleges Gogoi "hugged me around the waist, and touched me all over my body with his arms" and pressed his body against her.

When he did not stop, she says she "was forced to push him away from me with my hands".

The woman says Gogoi then told her not to mention what had happened or her family "would be greatly disturbed".

She was soon fired, and her husband and brother-in-law, both police officers, were suspended from their jobs, she said.

The woman also said she was forced to apologize to the chief justice’s wife (even though she felt there was nothing to apologize for), and that she had to prostrate herself on the floor and rub her nose at the wife’s feet.

Gogoi himself addressed the issue in front of a special bench of the Supreme Court on Saturday.

"I don't want to stoop so low as to answer these charges," he said. "All employees of the Supreme Court are treated respectfully by me."

He added: "There are forces that are trying to destabilize the judiciary. There are bigger forces behind these allegations hurled at me."