India Supreme Court Chief Justice accused of sexual harassment

New Delhi: -Indian chief justice denied sexual harassment allegations on Saturday after a former Supreme Court staff member accused him of making unwanted advances and hounding her.

Chief justice Ranjan Gogoi said the accusations made by a 35-year-old former court assistant were “unbelievable” and an attempt to stop him hearing important cases.

Saying judicial independence was at stake, Gogoi, 64, called a special session of the apex court after the woman wrote to 22 Supreme Court judges on Friday, alleging he twice made sexual advances in the office of his official residence in October last year.

“He hugged me around the waist, and touched me all over my body with his arms and by pressing his body against mine, and did not let go,” she wrote.

“He told me ´hold me´, he did not let go of me despite the fact that I froze and tried to get out of his embrace by stiffening and moving my body away,” the document added.

The woman claimed she was dismissed from her job and her family had been harassed after she rebuffed Gogoi´s advances.

She also said she was summoned by Gogoi´s wife who asked her to prostrate herself and rub her nose at her feet to seek forgiveness.