law student sexually harassed by ex-supreme court judge

8/13/2019 Law Student Sexually Harassed by Ex-Supreme Court Judge

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Gang rape protests: Asking for Justice?

Law student sexually harassed by ex-

Supreme Court judge: case is not unique,but speaking out is nearly impossibleBy Kian Ganz Monday, 11 November 2013, 13:16 Interviews

A law graduate who recently

blogged about how a retired

Supreme Court judge sexually

assaulted her while she was his

intern, says that the problem is real

and not uncommon amongst the

judiciary and senior bar but that

she sees few if any ways of

tackling it.

Stella James, who graduated from

NUJS Kolkata this year and now

works at the NGO Natural Justice,

Lawyers for Communities and the Environment, wrote about an alleged incident of

physical, sexual assault by an unnamed, retired Supreme Court judge in late 2012.

In a post that was published on the blog of the NUJS Journal of Indian Law and Society on

6 November , she wrote about trying to come to terms with her experience of 24 December

2012, Christmas Eve, ironically against the backdrop of the then-ongoing Delhi gang rape

protests:

In Delhi at that time, interning during the winter vacations of my final

year in University, I dodged police barricades and fatigue to go to the

assistance of a highly reputed, recently retired Supreme Court judge whom

I was working under during my penultimate semester. For my supposed

diligence, I was rewarded with sexual assault (not physically injurious, but

nevertheless violating) from a man old enough to be my grandfather. I

wont go into the gory details, but suffice it to say that long after Id left

the room, the memory remained, in fact, still remains, with me.

Frankly I was really shocked, James tells Legally India in an interview today. Theres thisthing: a person who is a Supreme Court judge - you dont expect a Supreme Court judge to

harass somebody.

However, she says that her experience was neither uncommon, nor merely restricted to the

judiciary: Ive heard of three other cases [of sexual harassment] by the same judge and I

know of at least four other girls whove faced harassment from other judges - not perhaps as

[bad as mine]: most of them were in the chambers of the judge and other people around, so

it never gets too bad.

A girl I know faced continuous sexual harassment throughout and sexual advances, and

actually faced troubles through her work because of it. And she says shes heard of Supreme

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Court senior counsel who have made passes at or have continuously harassed interns for

longer periods.

And though it is barely, if at all, known outside legal circles, it is a bit of an open secret or

a big joke within the profession, particularly among clerks and women working in the

Supreme Court, according to James.

People in the Supreme Court kind of know, she says. I did my internship through the

college [recruitment process]. After beginning to share her experience with others in college,

however, James found that others had also faced similar problems with the same judge.

James reasons for not going public with the name of the judge or not lodging a formal

complaint are complex, both morally and practically. On the one hand, she wrote in the blog

post:

I bore, and still bear, no real ill-will towards the man, and had no desire

to put his lifes work and reputation in question. On the other hand, I felt

I had a responsibility to ensure that other young girls were not put in a

similar situation. But I have been unable to find a solution that allows

that. Despite the heated public debates, despite a vast army of feminist

vigilantes, despite new criminal laws and sexual harassment laws, I have

not found closure. The lack of such an alternative led to my facing acrippling sense of intellectual and moral helplessness.

Id worked for him for six months and he treated me really well for six months and has

been really kind to me, James explains. It was rather strange to me but I havent really

forgiven him for it [But] I dont know if I want to let myself - my impression of him as a

person - be entirely dictated by that act My leeway to him isnt because hes had a shining

career and all that - part of it is that [but] Im not really sure I want to ruin somebodys

entire life because of that.

Once it gets out in the open that hes harassed other girls, James says, people will only

look at him in that light.

However, James admits that one other strong reason, which was not really touched upon in

her blog post, was concern about whether legal action would even have any effect. James had

managed to reach two of the other young women who were harassed by the same judge but

neither were willing to come forward in public, mostly out of fear. They dont really want to

jeopordise their careers, James relates. Hes a Supreme Court judge. If its going to be his

word against our word, hes got more credibility, so to speak, of his words.

And she adds that if she by herself had wanted to take legal action, it would probably not

have been possible. There were no other witnesses, it was just me. It was a hotel room,

[people] saw me walking in voluntarily, saw me walking out very calmly. I didnt even walk

out [with] fear. At that moment I felt I needed to walk out very calmly. I never mentioned

anything the same day to anybody.

Apart from the evidentiary difficulty in proving the crime, the more serious problem for

lawyers is perhaps inherent in the profession itself. James said she had never heard of any

official harassment complaints within the legal profession or against any judges. And while

Legally India understands that sexual harassment complaints are at times made in law firms,

most are handled very delicately and quietly, with the firm encouraging informal resolution.

In courts, it is even worse, speculates James, in that there is usually no one you can

realistically complain to, unlike in a company or college structure where harassed by a boss

or lecturer, for example, and where she would have taken formal action in a similar incident.

Of course you can file a criminal complaint [against a judge or lawyer] but thats a whole


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NUJS prof Basheer

backs intern, calls for

college to protect

students from sexual

CJI constitutes 3-judge

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harassment allegation

Abolish 'My Lord' and

'Your Lordship'

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different level. And it is also likely to impact your career.

I know a friend of mine who was sexually harassed at the Karnataka high court, says

James. That friend wasnt keeping it a secret and telling lawyer friends about why she left

the job with that senior, and for two months afterwards she wasnt able to find a job at the

same court, being asked about the incident in interviews after it dripped through the courts

grapevine (she eventually found a job after deciding to evade the issue at interviews).

The mindset in such cases often is, she created trouble for him, shell create trouble for us,

speculates James.

She says she was also skeptical about the Supreme Courts recently started sexual harassment

cell and guidelines improving matters considerably. It is often one persons word against

another persons word, and a lot of people tend not to take the word of a young lawyer

against a senior advocate whos made his reputation for 10 to 15 years. There is a balance

of power thing going on here.

The only thing that James has been able to do, other than write the blog, is discuss the

incident with members of her alma mater, possibly de-listing the judge from the recruitment

process so that others are not exposed to similar experiences.

While James does feel that colleges have a responsibility to protect their students, she

acknowledges that it could be difficult. The judge in question has been closely associated with

her former college for a while by giving lectures and regularly taking on research assistants,

so whether faculty can take unequivocal action is not certain.

Nevertheless, James says that potentially recruitment committees of colleges could make a

difference. I think at least there should be some way, if not publicly then at least

privately, kids who go intern with a judge should know that this has happened before.

James says that she was able to come forward, albeit without disclosing names, because of

her choice to work with an NGO with a possible view to entering academia at some point in

her career.

I was a little afraid, she admits. The other friends Ive spoken about, they are in positionswhere these judges play an important role [at the Supreme Court or teaching in a college

and they] are afraid of jeopardising their careers. I dont have such concerns here at Natural

Justice - I have a team thats incredibly supportive, and three colleagues were first to read

the blog post [before publication].

For me, the great thing is that Im in an organisation where I know that if I come out in

public about it, we are 25 people, and Im pretty sure Ill have the entire team behind me.

That lawyers elsewhere are unlikely or unable to protect their own from sexual harassment, is

a problem the profession will have to deal with sooner rather than later.

Update 12 November: The Chief Justice of India has decided to institute a three-memberjudicial committee to probe the allegation.

Photo by Soumyaroop Chatterjee

More about: Judiciary, Senior Counsel, Sexual Harassment, Supreme Court, The Bench

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law student sexually harassed by ex-supreme court judge

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