Sexual harassment complaint against District Judge, woman judge sends letter seeking permission to die; CJI seeks report

NEW DELHI: The Chief Justice of India (CJI) has sought a report from the Allahabad High Court on the complaint of a woman judge who accused the district judge of sexually harassing her. It was a woman judge of Uttar Pradesh's Banda district who wrote a letter to the Chief Justice in this regard. The allegation has been made against the district judge of Banda and his associates. The Chief Justice has directed the Allahabad High Court Registrar to reply immediately.

The woman judge wrote to the CJI seeking permission to end her life following the abuse and harassment that she endured in her career. The CJI sought a report from the Allahabad High Court after this letter went viral on social media. In her complaint, the woman judge accused the district judge of sexually harassing her and asking her to meet him at night.

'I have no will to live anymore. I have been rendered to a Walking Corpse in the last year and a half. 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,' she wrote in her letter.

The woman judge lodged the complaint with the Supreme Court on December 4. According to the complainant, although she had lodged a complaint with the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice and Administrator in this regard in 2022, no action was taken. Later, she filed a complaint with the High Court Internal Complaint Committee (ICC).

'It took six months and a thousand emails just to start an enquiry. The proposed enquiry is also a farce and a sham. The witnesses in the enquiry are immediate subordinates of the district judge. How the committee expects the witnesses to depose against their boss is beyond my understanding,' she wrote in her letter.