A 31-year-old man who accused a former Supreme Court staffer of cheating him of Rs 50,000 to get him a job at the top court has been missing from his home in Haryana since April, The Indian Express reported on Thursday, quoting the police.
The staffer is the woman who in April had alleged that Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had sexually harassed her. On April 19, the woman sent affidavits to 22 Supreme Court judges calling for an inquiry into the actions of Gogoi, who she claimed had not only harassed her but was also responsible for subsequent victimisation, which led to her and other members of her family losing their government jobs. Criminal cases were also reportedly filed against them. She was a junior court assistant at the time.
On March 3, the Tilak Marg police station had registered a first information report against the woman based on Naveen Kumar’s complaint. He alleged that a man identified as Mansa Ram had taken him to meet the junior court assistant in June 2017. She allegedly promised to get him a job at the Supreme Court, quoting a price of Rs 10 lakh. In the complaint, Kumar claimed he gave her an advance of Rs 50,000. However, the woman rejected the charges against her as “false and frivolous”, and claimed that she was being victimised for complaining against Gogoi.
Notices not received
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana, who has been calling for Kumar’s presence in court since April, was informed about his non-availability on July 19. Khurana had first issued a notice to Kumar on April 23, then May 23 and subsequently on July 19. Investigating officer Mukesh Antil told the court that the notices went unserved because he was not found at his address.
“The notice issued to the complainant received back unserved and he was not found present at his address, and the investigating officer informed that the notice was attempted to be served to the complainant through process server ASI Lal Singh,” Antil was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. The court issued another notice to him and sought his presence on September 6.
Also read:Chief Justice of India sexually harassed me, says former SC staffer in affidavit to 22 judges
The police had arrested the woman on March 10 based on an FIR for the alleged offences of cheating, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy. She was sent to judicial custody by a court the next day and granted bail on March 12.
The Delhi Police had sought the cancellation of bail after Kumar alleged that she had threatened him. Kumar had also noted that Mansa Ram died in January.
The woman’s counsel VK Ohri has urged the court to dismiss the police plea and and close the case against his client. “The judge said last opportunity is being given to the police to serve the notice to the complainant,” Ohri told The Indian Express.
In April, Kumar’s mother Meena had said that her son left for Chandigarh at 7 am on April 20. His phone has been switched off since then. She had also claimed that she had told him “not to file the case” as it was “not wise to fight with powerful people”. “He is scared for his life. When he left, he told me that everything was going to be all right,” she had said. According to his family, Kumar used to work as a security guard in Jhajjar.
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