retired Supreme Court judge Justice AK Patnaik, appointed to probe the allegations of “larger conspiracy” to frame Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, is likely to submit the report this September after completing the task.
Justice Patnaik was appointed as a one-man panel to inquire the allegations against the sitting CJI. Advocate Utsav Singh Bains was examined by Justice Patnaik from 11 am to 1 pm. His statement was also recorded, who had alleged that there was larger conspiracy in framing the CJI.
Bains had made various startling accusations including fixing of benches in the Supreme Court.
“The affidavit filed by Bains and other documents were examined by the panel. Now, the panel will complete the report and submit it to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover by the second week of September,” revealed a source to India Today.
On April 25, the apex court had formed a panel to probe the allegations of Bains. It had then asked Delhi Police Commissioner, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and CBI to assist with Justice Patnaik in helping complete the probe.
Heading the special bench, Justice Arun Mishra had said that once the probe is completed by Justice Patnaik, a report in a sealed cover is to be filed before the court. The matter will be heard again once the report is submitted.
This probe will not look into the sexual harassment allegations against the CJI, which was levelled against him by one of a former employee of the Supreme Court.
On May 6, CJI had received a clean chit from the apex court’s In-House Inquiry Committee comprising Justice S A Bobde, Justices Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee had rejected the allegations and had stated it “found no substance” in the claims against him.
Earlier, the apex court had expressed its disappointment over the “systematic attack” on the judiciary and had observed that it was time to tell the rich and powerful of this country that they are “playing with fire.”