A Madhya Pradesh high court judge accused of sexual harassment said on Monday he was ready to face death penalty if found guilty.
Amid reports that have the potential to deliver a blow to the image of the higher judiciary, the judge of the Gwalior bench wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM Lodha, saying he had the “highest regard to the institution.”
A controversy broke out on Monday after reports that an additional district and sessions judge in Gwalior had quit her job accusing a judge of the Madhya Pradesh high court of sexual harassment.
She also accused the judge of seeking sexual favours from her, and wrote to the CJI explaining the reasons that forced her to resign.
According to reports, the accused had asked the additional judge to “perform dance on an item song” at a function at his home and influenced her transfer to a remote location.
Rejecting the charges made by the woman judge, who also headed a district-level committee to look into sexual harassment at workplace, the high court judge said he was ready to face any probe by any agency including an investigating agency.
“In regard to the woman judge and even in regard to any lady, an investigation can also be done whether I have ever harassed or abused any of the lady employees or any subordinate judge,” he said in his two-page letter to the CJI.
“I am ready to face any penalty, even the death penalty (if found guilty).”