A notice has been issued by the Supreme Court to the Registrar General of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in a petition filed by a former woman district court judge who resigned alleging sexual harassment. The Court has also sought a reply within a period of six weeks from the HC on a prayer of reappointment by the female judge.
The woman has requested the court to treat her resignation as a ‘constructive one’ while saying that the resignation was ‘neither voluntary nor conscious’. The SC has agreed to hear the petition of the female judge on the plea made by her.
The lawyer appearing for the judge has submitted to the Court that the resignation of the ex-judicial officer was motivated by her illegitimate mid-term transfer which was unjust, arbitrary and biased making it a constructive dismissal. The former judge has alleged that her immediate supervisor had sexually harassed her from December 2013 until the time she submitted her resignation on July 17, 2014.
The ex-judicial officer had resigned as an Additional District and Sessions Judge after she was transferred from Gwalior to Sidhi. The HC judge who has been accused of committing sexual harassment has now retired from his position.
In a report of the Judges Inquiry Committee which was formed by the Rajya Sabha to probe the issue, it has been found that the accused judge did interfere with the transfer and rejection of the representation of the victim. However, the sexual harassment charges against the accused judge could not be proved.
The complainant has also challenged the administrative order of the HC that had dismissed her application without providing any valid reasons for dismissal.