CJI Ranjan Gogai in 2019 and US Supreme court Judge Kavanaugh in 2018, both were accused by women of sexual harassment. Both cases were dismissed in favor of the judges for lack of evidence. But the procedure of handling of complaint had been astoundingly different.
The two incidences remind one of Infosys Former Chairman Murty’s suggestion that Indian judges should be given little bit of training in how American courts work, before they are assigned a job in India.
Judge Kavanaugh in 2018 hearing for appointment to US Supreme Court was accused of forcing himself on a co-student about forty years ago when he was an undergraduate student and attending a college party where alcohol was served openly. The female student had accused him of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh forcing himself upon her body which he denied. The judge had said he was under influence of alcohol, and perhaps mental blackout, that can happen if taken excess quantity of alcohol. But he said he was sorry if he caused any pain to the student who is a professor at University of Southern California today.
There was FBI investigation ordered by President Trump of the entire affair. Finally US senate committee voted 11-10 to appoint him to US Supreme Court by one vote majority of Republican Party Senators. Entire debate was open and media spread the process by minutes globally. There was no hiding of any thing even though adversaries said it was badly handled by President Trump.
What had happened to Gogoi issue had become a cause of shame for India on global stage. Time is gone when you could have suppressed info under rug of a court house. The 35 year old mother of 8 year old daughter had filed glaring affidavits to other judges and to media that spread it all globally. How disastrous it looks when India attorney general and solicitor general jump in picture to flatter CJI like a monarch, finance minister of India jumps in the fray claiming innocence of the judge. Add more insult to the injury, three judge commission do not allow a lawyer with complainant and offer her more chance to publicity on global media network and offer no detail of its process.
Now, Infosys Chairman who was delivering a lecture on Indian Judiciary at some US university in 2018, reminds us as a great visionary of how useful it can be if our judges can be taught a bit of how to handle public faith and trust even if they need to learn it from America.
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