Ranjan Gogoi becomes third former Supreme Court judge to enter Rajya Sabha amid barrage of criticisms

The former CJI took oath in presence of Prime MInister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha.

Gogoi, in an unfamiliar atmosphere of political slogans, took oath three days after he was nominated by President Ram Nath Kovind incurring the wrath of the political spectrum.

Immediately after his nomination, the Congress launched an unsparing attack on the Centre accusing it of "rewarding" Gogoi for toeing the line of the government.

The Congress had put up a tweet which reads, "The BJP's handling of Indian institutions is one of 'quid pro quo'. This has set a dangerous precedent for the future of independent India and the separation of powers between judiciary & the legislature."

Indeed Gogoi, who served as the CJI for 13 months and took oath as the Rajya Sabha MP four months after his retirement, gave verdicts on several key, politically-fueled cases like Rafale, Ayodhya, dismissal of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma.

Reacting sharply to his nomination, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra told NDTV, "It is shameful to see the CJI is selling his soul for a Rajya Sabha seat."

Gogoi was also in the midst of a controversy as he had himself heard a sexual harassment case which was brought against him.

The former CJI had denied the allegation which was first levelled against him in Apr 2019.

Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy had reacted to the appointment on Twitter saying, "It's just so sad. The brazenness of it. Destroying constitutional propriety for a measly Rajya Sabha seat."

However, this is not the first instance where a CJI or a Supreme Court judge entered the upper house of Parliament.

Gogoi's appointment may have sent shock waves to the Opposition but to political analysts or rational-thinkers, it was more like a Déjà vu.

In 1998, the Congress, which was though not in power then, had sent former CJI Ranganath Mishra to Rajya Sabha.

If Gogoi had handled the cases like Rafale or Ayodhya where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reaped political points, Mishra found no one guilty in the 1984 Sikh riots which took place immediately after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Mishra was appointed as the CJI when BJP patriarch late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

In 1983, Justice Baharul Islam became the first judge to become the Rajya Sabha MP immediately after his retirement holding the hands of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The appointment was widely seen as a reward to Justice Islam for giving relief to then Congress Chief Minister of Bihar, Jagannath Mishra, in the Patna Urban Cooperative Bank scam case.

In the light of the appointment of Justice Islam or former CJI Mishra, political analyst Pradip Bhandari found Gogoi's entry into Rajya Sabha "nothing unconstitutional".

In an interaction with IBNS, Bhandari said, "Every body has a point of view on Ranjan Gogoi's appointment but we should wait for the former CJI to speak."

"Nothing unconstitutional has happened," he added but also feels a former CJI must go through a cooling-off period before entering Parliament.

(Image Credit: UNI)