Gogoi takes oath in RS amid Oppn protests, walkout
nNEWDELHI: Former chief justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday took oath as a nominated member of Parliament’s upper House or Rajya Sabha even as members of opposition parties shouted slogans against his nomination and staged a walkout.
As his name was called for oath-taking, lawmakers from the Congress, Left parties, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and Rashtriya Janata Dal shouted slogans and disrupted the House proceedings.
Rajya Sabha chairman expunged the slogans from the record. “It is very unbecoming of members of Parliament... Nothing will go on the record... very unfair, very unfair,” Naidu said. He added the lawmakers have the liberty to express their views outside the House. “You know the Constitutional provision, you know the precedent, you know the power of the President [to nominate someone to Rajya Sabha],” he said.
Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rajya Sabha has a tradition of having eminent persons from diverse fields being nominated by those who are opposing Gogoi’s nomination. “Ranjan Gogoi will contribute his best as a nominated member,” Prasad said. He added the opposition was being
“grossly unfair” to Gogoi. Gogoi, 65, who retired as the CJI in November, took oath in English.
Opposition parties have questioned his nomination four months after he retired in November. Social activist Madhu Purnima Kishwar challenged his nomination in the Supreme Court on Wednesday arguing that it casts a shadow of doubt on the credibility of the judgments the latter has delivered.
Gogoi presided over several key cases, including the one related to allegations against the government about procedural flaws in the procurement of Rafale jets. His most significant judgment was in the Ram Janmabhoomi-babri Masjid title suit case. He led the bench, which granted the disputed land in Ayodhya to the Hindu parties, paving the way for the construction of a Ram Temple, a key political agenda of the ruling BJP.