NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Justice Indu Malhotra replaced Justice NV Ramana on the inquiry panel looking into the sexual harassment allegation against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Ramana had yesterday recused himself from the panel.

The former court employee who has accused Gogoi had on Wednesday claimed that Ramana was close to Gogoi. Unidentified Supreme Court officials said that Ramana made the decision to recuse himself, as he feels strongly that baseless allegations are being made to prejudice the inquiry and its outcome.

The three-member committee constituted to investigate the allegations is headed by Justice SA Bobde, and also has Justice Indira Banerjee in it. Bobde is the most senior judge in the Supreme Court after the chief justice.

On Wednesday, the woman who complained of sexual harassment by Gogoi wrote to the inquiry committee expressing concerns over its composition. This was in response to a notice she was reportedly sent, asking her to be present before the committee on Friday.

In her reply addressed to the three judges, the complainant said she was not aware of the composition of the inquiry panel before reading news reports about the same. Citing the Vishakha guidelines and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the complainant said the Supreme Court’s inquiry committee does not have a majority of women members and an external member as mandated by law.

The former court employee also objected to Justice NV Ramana being included in the inquiry committee. She alleged that Ramana was a frequent visitor at Gogoi’s house and was a “close friend of the CJI and is like a family member to him”.