Senior lawyer Indira Jaising on Wednesday (May 8, 2019) alleged “victimisation” after the Supreme Court sent a notice to senior advocates including Anand Grover and her, over their NGO Lawyers Collective, with respect to a petition seeking criminal prosecution over alleged violation of guidelines under FCRA Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.
Jaising says that she is being targeted because she questioned the SC in-house panel’s probe into alleged sexual harassment case against the CJI.
Indira Jaising alleges victimisation
Questioning the procedure followed by the SC in-house panel in regards to the allegation of sexual harassment against the CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Jaising had earlier said, “This is a scandal,” and demanded “the disclosure of the findings of the enquiry committee in public interest.”
#NotInMyName
This is a scandal
Indira Jaising v Supreme Court of India was also a case of sexual harassment by a sitting High Court of Karnataka.It is a pre RTI case and is bad in law
Demand the disclosure of the findings of the enquiry committee in public interest https://t.co/Saw07mBPhV— indira jaising (@IJaising) May 6, 2019
Responding to the SC notice, Lawyers collective, in a press release, also signed by Jaising, said: “It is obvious to us that this is victimisation on the accounts of Ms Jaising taking up the issue of the procedure adopted in relation to the allegations of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India by a former employee of the Supreme Court.”
Lawyers Collective’s statement on the notice issued today by two judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta. pic.twitter.com/16RCRmWohk
— indira jaising (@IJaising) May 8, 2019
“Considering that Ms Jaising has been publicly vocal on the issue of due process of law in relation to the conduct of the in-house inquiry, the Chief Justice ought to have recused himself from hearing the matter,” the press note read.
In the statement, Lawyers Collective alleged that contrary to the circulars and notifications of the apex court, though there was no verbal mention of the matter on May 7, the petition was listed for hearing before the CJI bench comprising CJI Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta on May 8. The petition was filed in the apex on May 6.
No Foreign Funding
The statement released by Lawyers Collective said that no foreign funding has been received since 2016, when the Home Ministry suspended the licence of the NGO for six months for alleged violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
“We wish to state that LC (Lawyers Collective) has no foreign funding since 2016 when its FCRA registration was suspended and subsequently cancelled by the Ministry of Home Affairs on false and illegal grounds. LC has taken up appropriate legal proceedings against the cancellation in accordance with the law. In any event, we strongly dispute any allegation of mis-utilisation of any funds,” the statement said.
