Report of SC panel travesty of justice: PUCL

New Delhi: The PUCL on Wednesday said the report of the Supreme Court in-house committee which concluded that there was no substance in the allegations of sexual harassment made by a former woman employee of the apex court against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was "gross travesty of justice, flagrant violation of the principles of natural justice and rule of law".

In a release, the People's Union of Civil Liberties said that findings of in-house committee "seriously and grievously wounds" one of the primary constructs of the rule of law, that justice should not only be done, "but seen to be done".

"The decision not to make public the Report of the In-house Committee only compounds in the public eye, the apprehension that the entire judicial system in the highest court in the country did not act in a fair and judicious manner in handling the complaint of the woman employee," it said.

It said the entire incident from the time the complaint became public on April 20 to report of the in-house committee epitomizes "an egregious breach and flagrant violation of all principles of natural justice, procedural fairness, fair play and rule of law".

PUCL demanded that the complainant should be given the Report of the in-house Committee. It also said that the report should be placed before the full court of the Supreme Court "for an informed decision".

It demanded that the complaint should be placed before an independent external committee, headed by a woman.