Petition in SC against ex-CJI Gogoi’s Rajya Sabha nomination

The nomination of former chief justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi as a Rajya Sabha member by President Ram Nath Kovind gives it the colour of a political appointment and casts a shadow of doubt on the credibility of the judgments delivered by the Supreme Court under Gogoi, a petition filed in the apex court by social activist Madhu Purnima Kishwar argued.

Kishwar prayed that CJI Gogoi’s appointment to the Rajya Sabha be put on hold and restrictions contained in Section 8 of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, barring retired chairpersons and members of the Lokpal from employment in any other office of profit under the central government or state governments, be applied to retired judges of the Supreme Court and high courts as well.

Kishwar pointed out that justice Gogoi, during his tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court, and especially after he became CJI, delivered several historic judgments, some of which had the potential to create widespread unrest. These included the case over alleged procedural flaws in the procurement of Rafale aircraft, and the controversy over the government’s decision to transfer Central Bureau of Investigation director Alok Verma before the end of his term.

Gogoi’s most significant judgment was in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, where he led a bench that granted the disputed land to Hindu claimants, paving the way for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, a key objective of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kishwar said. Gogoi, during his term both as a judge and then CJI, was actively involved in pushing the National Register of Citizen process in Assam, the petitioner said.

Kishwar told the top court that all sections of society had accepted those verdicts despite their personal convictions, but his nomination as a Rajya Sabha member by the President had cast a shadow of doubt on the credibility of those judgments.

“It has given a handle to the external enemies of India as well as “Break Up India Forces within the country to defame and cast aspersions on the highest judiciary of India. This is amply evident from the adverse coverage of this appointment in the national and international media,” she argued.

President Kovind nominated justice Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha on March 16, four months after his retirement in November 2019.

Justice Gogoi’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha has not found favour with retired Supreme Court judges like justices Madan Lokur, AK Patnaik and Kurian Joseph who have spoken out against it. Justice Gogoi has defended his nomination, saying that he accepted the offer because of his conviction that the legislature and judiciary must work together for nation-building.

“My presence in Parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the judiciary before the legislature and vice versa”, he said.