Female UP judge seeks permission to 'end life' over sexual harassment by senior district judge; CJI seeks report

'I have been sexually harassed to the very limit. I have been treated like utter garbage. I feel like an unwanted insect,' she said in the widely circulated letter.

Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has requested a report following the circulation of an open letter on social media, written by a woman civil judge in Uttar Pradesh.

The letter accuses a senior district judge and his associates of sexual harassment during her time in Barabanki and requests permission to end her life in a dignified manner.

"Kindly permit me to end my life in a dignified way. Let my life be - DISMISSED," the woman judge from Banda wrote in the letter addressed to the Chief Justice.

"I have been sexually harassed to the very limit. I have been treated like utter garbage. I feel like an unwanted insect," she said.

The letter gained significant attention on social media. In response, Chief Justice Chandrachud instructed the Supreme Court Secretary General, Atul M Kurhekar, to write to the registrar general of the Allahabad High Court, seeking a report on the status of all complaints made by the woman judge. The report was requested to be submitted by the morning.

In the letter, the female judge stated that an investigation was initiated into her allegations after she lodged a complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee of the High Court in July 2023. However, she believed that the inquiry process is a complete 'farce.'

"The witnesses in the enquiry are immediate Subordinates of the District Judge. How the Committee expects the witnesses to depose against their boss is beyond my understanding," she wrote.

"All I requested was that the District Judge be transferred during the pendency of the inquiry. The bare minimum prayer was not heeded to," the letter said.

Notably, a writ petition filed by her  was dismissed on Wednesday as an ICC was already seized of her complaint. The letter by the woman judge claimed her case was dismissed by the Supreme Court after eight seconds of hearing. She alleged that the district judge in question had asked her to meet him at night. 

"I have no will to live anymore. I have been rendered to a walking corpse in the last year and a half. There is no purpose in carrying this soulless and lifeless body around anymore. There is no purpose left in my life," the two-page letter said.

The judge's letter which is being circulated also paints a grim picture where she tells all women that despite being a judge she could not muster a fair enquiry for herself, adding that a fight against the system was futile.

"I advise all women to learn to be a toy, or a non-living thing", she stated.

(With DHNS inputs)