Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi nominated to Rajya Sabha: Govt notification

New Delhi, March 16

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The government on Monday nominated former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha.

A notification to this effect was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Ranjan Gogoi to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members,” the notification said.

The vacancy was created due to retirement of KTS Tulsi.

Justice Gogoi, the first person from northeast to reach the top of judiciary and credited for bringing the curtains down on the decades-old politically and religiously sensitive Ayodhya land dispute, had retired as the Chief Justice of India in November 2019.

He etched his name in the annals of history when a five-judge Bench headed by him on November 9, 2019 brought an end to the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.

Justice Gogoi’s tenure in the apex court was also remembered for him being part of a presser by the ‘gang of four’ senior most judges in January 2018 which questioned the then CJI’s way of functioning.

Later at a public function, Justice Gogoi had remarked that “independent judges and noisy journalists are democracy’s first line of defence”.

A “revolution, not reform” was needed to keep the institution of judiciary serviceable for the common man, Justice Gogoi had said at the same function.

Justice Gogoi’s tenure as CJI was not free of controversy as he faced allegations of sexual harassment, of which he was cleared.

However, he would be remembered for the Ayodhya verdict that gave Hindus the 2.77 acre disputed land for construction of Ram Temple, and order that Muslims be given a 5-acre land at a “prominent location” to build a mosque in the city. — Agencies