Chief Justice of India sets up judges panel to probe charges against Madhya Pradesh High Court Judge

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India HL Dattu has constituted a three-judge panel, including Chief Justices of 2 High Courts, to go into sexual harassment charges of a former woman judicial officer against a sitting judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

The complainant, who later put in her papers as additional District and Sessions judge, has recently received a communication in this regard from the office of the CJI, an informed source said.

The decision to set up the panel, which will include a high court judge, has been taken taken after the CJI's office received a preliminary inquiry report on the a complaint of the former woman judicial officer.

Earlier, an apex court bench, while deciding the plea of ex-woman judicial officer, had "divested" the MP HC judge of administrative and supervisory authority. It had also quashed a two-judge panel set up by the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court to probe the alleged misconduct of the judge saying, "the Chief Justice of the High Court, in the present case, travelled beyond the determinative authority vested in him, under stage-one of the in-house procedure."

It had also said that the role of the Chief Justice of MP High Court be given to his counterpart of some other High Court or the CJI himself assume the role.