NEW DELHI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- India's top court on Thursday constituted a one-man panel of retired Supreme Court judge Justice A K Patnaik to hold an inquiry into the allegations of a larger conspiracy to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
"Retired Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik will probe claims of a larger conspiracy to frame the Chief Justice," top court said. "The court told the lawyer who first spoke about the alleged conspiracy that he cannot withhold any information during this inquiry."
The lawyer had alleged there was a conspiracy against the Chief Justice to "force him to resign and to threaten every judge of the Supreme Court".
The apex court meanwhile asked the directors of premier investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's internal intelligence agency Intelligence Bureau and the Delhi Police Commissioner to cooperate with Justice Patnaik during the inquiry.
"The top court, however, said that the inquiry will not deal with the allegations of sexual harassment against the CJI and the outcome of the inquiry will not affect the in-house committee which is dealing with the complaint against the CJI," an official said.
A former employee of India's Supreme Court last week accused the country's chief justice Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment, an accusation that was vehemently denied by the judge.
