The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea filed by an advocate and a former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) woman officer against the appointment of Justice H.L. Dattu as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI), alleging sexual harassment by him.
Alleging sexual harassment, the officer sought quashing of the government recommendation to the President to appoint Justice Dattu as the CJI.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw said it will hear the matter on Thursday.
Additional Solicitor-General Sanjay Jain appearing for the Central Government opposed the plea, saying the petition is frivolous and should not be entertained.
She alleged that she was a law student in 2011 when Justice Dattu began hearing all her court cases in the Supreme Court, her workplace.
“He (Dattu) has since then contributed to her acute and intense sexual harassment even though — under the Vishakha guidelines of the apex court itself — he was obliged to protect her against it, even from the third party,” the plea said.
The plea said Justice Dattu dismissed all her cases and she had also filed complaints against him with police, the National Commission for Women and the Delhi Commission for Women.
