New Delhi, April 23: A three-member Supreme Court judges' panel has been set-up by Justice SA Bobde to look into the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi by a former apex court's female employee. The panel will be headed by Justice Bobde, and also include Justices NV Ramana and Indira Banerjee.

The top court had taken suo moto cognizance of the complainant's allegation, and on April 20, ordered the constitution of a three judge bench, comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, RF Nariman and Deepak Gupta to look into the case. SC Seeks Response from Advocate Who Alleged Conspiracy to Frame CJI

The bench hearing the case against the CJI has asked media to not to publish the woman's complaint without verifying its truth, adding that the judiciary "cannot be made a scapegoat".

CJI Gogoi on Saturday rubbished the allegations levelled against him, saying there was a "larger conspiracy" to destabilize the independence of the judiciary, which, he said, is "under very serious threat".

The Chief Justice said the sexual harassment charge against him is "unbelievable" and he would "not stoop too low even to deny these allegations."

"There has to be a bigger force behind this. There are two offices -- one of the Prime Minister and one of the CJI. They want to deactivate the office of the CJI," he said.

"I will sit on this bench and discharge my duties without fear and favour till my tenure is over. This is the reward a CJI gets after 20 years of service," he said.

Justice Gogoi, who assumed the office of the CJI on October 3, 2018, will retire on November 17 this year.

(With agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2019 11:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).