CJI Ranjan Gogoi questions SC why Unnao rape survivor's letter from 12 July never reached him, demands registrar's report on delay

A day after the Uttar Pradesh government handed the Unnao accident case  to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday expressed his displeasure over the fact that a letter written by the victim’s family on 12 July was not placed before him by the court registry. [caption id=“attachment_6591391” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. News18[/caption] Gogoi directed the secretary-general to place his report in the court in terms of the administrative order issued on Tuesday as reported by CNN-News18. The Chief Justice also stated that the matter will be taken up on the judicial side and the registrar’s report on the delay in placing the letter before the CJI will also be looked at. He called it “unfortunate” that the letter by the victim’s family didn’t reach him on time. More than two weeks before  the victim was seriously injured in an accident on 28 July, the Unnao rape survivor had written a letter to the CJI seeking action against those “who are making threats” to her and her family. India Today quoted the CJI’s statements on Wednesday which said, “This morning I read in the papers that the Unnao victim had written to the SC. I was informed about the letter yesterday (Tuesday). I have not yet seen the letter. It is yet to be placed before me. We try to do something constructive in the midst of this highly destructive volatile environment and this happens.” The letter came under scrutiny when senior lawyer V Giri, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in child rape cases, sought urgent listing of the Unnao rape case. In the letter, she said that on the morning of 7 July, Naveen Singh, son of Sashi Singh, an accused in the rape case, came with prime accused Kuldeep Singh’s brother Manoj Singh, K Mishra and two others came in a car and threatened that they would get victim’s family entangled in fake cases. “You have already seen what we did with …..,” they said in an apparent reference to the uncle of the victim who is lodged in a jail in alleged fake cases. “If you don’t settle, we will make your entire family rot in jail,” they supposedly threatened. According to the procedure , the CBI has taken over the investigation in the accident case from Uttar Pradesh re-registering its FIR. The Supreme Court is expected to hear a petition on the mishandling of the Unnao case on Thursday according to reports. With inputs from agencies