Contributing to The Print’s Talk Point, Satya Prasoon argues that the Supreme Court of India must embrace “substantive due process”, in order to regain credibility. The Supreme Court is in a credibility crisis after sexual harassment allegations were raised against the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi earlier this month.
Prasoon argues that the Supreme Court has lost credibility due to its poor handling of the allegations. In particular, he suggests that the Court has not followed due process in looking into the allegations.
Prasoon is joined by Prashant Reddy (Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy) and Rupali Samuel (Women in Criminal Law Association) in arguing that the Court must re-think its approach, if it seeks to regain credibility. Reddy and Samuel both argue that the solution must come from outside of the judiciary — an investigation that has a degree of independent accountability.
By contrast, Advocates Gaurav Malik and Milan Deep Singh defend the steps the Court has already taken. Instead of focusing on changes the judiciary should make, they argue that the public should have more trust in the judiciary. Further, they suggest that the complainant has acted unreasonably during the course of the inquiries so far.