Ex-CJI Gogoi named for RS
President Ram Nath Kovind has nominated former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha. A notification in this regard was issued by the ministry of home affairs late on Monday. The notification states that the nomination has been made to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated member.
Justice Gogoi was one of the five judges who had pronounced the verdict last year on the politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit and was also one of the four judges who had held an unprecedented press conference in 2018, which was perceived by many as a revolt against the then CJI Deepak Mishra. Justice Gogoi had retired in November last year.
Justice Gogoi along with Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Ashok Bhushan had pronounced the verdict which had handed over the disputed land to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.
During the joint press conference in 2018, Justice Gogoi along with Justice Kurien Joseph, Justice Chelameswar and Justice Madan B. Lokur had listed numerous issues which they claimed were afflicting the country’s apex court and warned they could destroy Indian democracy. The judges had highlighted the administrative issues which they claimed were lacking in the apex court. Incidentally, the apex court was to take up for consideration the issue of alleged “mysterious death” of special CBI judge B.H. Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.