'Permit Me To End My Life': UP Woman Judge Alleges Sexual Harassment By Senior, CJI Chandrachud Seeks Report

After an open letter allegedly penned by a female judge in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, accusing a superior of sexual harassment went viral on social media, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has sought a status report from the Allahabad High Court administration.

In her letter to the Chief Justice, the female judge requested permission to die by suicide, citing the alleged torment she endured from a district judge and his colleagues during her former posting in Barabanki.

The woman claimed that she was asked by the district judge to meet him at night.

"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 letter which has gone viral on social media.

She revealed that an investigation was initiated into her claims subsequent to her lodging a grievance with the High Court's Internal Complaints Committee in July 2023, which she disparagingly referred to as a "farce and a sham".

"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.

She explained that she had sought the judge's transfer while the inquiry was ongoing to ensure an impartial investigation. However, her plea was rejected by the Supreme Court in "just eight seconds".

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

"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.

Upon the letter gaining widespread attention, Atul M Kurhekar, the Secretary General of the Supreme Court, under the direction of the Chief Justice, wrote to the registrar general of the Allahabad High Court to provide an update on the status of the proceedings.

In response, he was reportedly told that the acting Chief Justice of the High Court has also taken cognizance of the open letter.