Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has directed the Allahabad High Court to present the status of all the complaints filed by the woman judicial officer of Uttar Pradesh alleging sexual harassment by a district judge.
The Allahabad High Court was given an overnight deadline for the collection of comprehensive information on the pending complaints. The Secretary General of the Supreme Court was notified on phone last night that the acting Chief Justice of the High Court’s has also acknowledged the open letter.
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“I joined the judicial service with much enthusiasm and belief that I would dispense justice to the common folk. What did I know that I’ll soon be rendered a beggar for justice on every door that I go. In the short time of my service, I have had the rare honour of being abused on the dais in an open court,” she wrote in the two-page letter quoted by The Indian Express.
“I have been sexually harassed to the very limit. I have been treated like utter garbage. I feel like an unwanted insect. And I hoped to provide justice to others,” the letter added, as per IE.
“I did not expect that my complaints and statement be taken as cardinal truth. All I wished for was a fair enquiry,” she said, alleging that she was asked to meet her senior at night. She claimed to have tried to die by suicide, but the “attempt was not successful.”
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“I have no will to live anymore. I have been rendered to a walking corpse in the last one-and-a-half year. There is no purpose in carrying this soulless and lifeless body around anymore. There is no purpose left in my life. Kindly permit me to end my life in a dignified way. Let my life be dismissed,” The Indian Express quoted what she wrote to the CJI in the letter.
Despite moving the Supreme Court on December 13 to seek a fair inquiry, her plea was dismissed by a bench led by Justice Hrishikesh Roy. The woman’s letter concludes with a note to “working women in India,” advising against attempting to “fight against the system.”
“I advise all women to learn to be a toy or a non-living thing,” she wrote, reflecting on her struggles as a judge unable to secure a fair inquiry for herself.
(With inputs from Bar and Bench)