NEW DELHI, April 20 - The Bar Council of India on Saturday condemned the �false and cooked-up� sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and said the entire bar was standing with the CJI, and against this �attempt to malign the institution�.
�These are all false and cooked-up allegations and we condemn these kinds of acts. These kinds of allegations and actions should not be encouraged. This is an attempt to malign the institution. Entire bar is standing in solidarity with the Chief Justice of India,� Manan Kumar Mishra, BCI chairperson said.
He said an emergency meeting of the top bar body would be convened on Sunday and a resolution be passed in this regard. �We will pass the resolution and then try to meet the CJI to make him aware of the (BCI�s) decision,� Mishra said.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior advocate Rakesh Khanna, who was present during the extraordinary hearing in the matter on Saturday, however, refused to comment.
However, former SCBA president and senior advocate Vikas Singh said the proper course would be to have an in-house inquiry by some senior Supreme Court judges to authoritatively find out the truth �this way or that way� in a time-bound manner.
�If it is a false allegation then this definitely is a threat to independence of judiciary, but if it is true then it is also very serious,� he said.
The National Green Tribunal Bar Association also condemned the allegations on the CJI and said it was an attempt to target top Indian judiciary and the entire bar stood in support of the CJI. � PTI
