SC rejects plea seeking inquiry into conduct of ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi as judge

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 21

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition seeking an inquiry into the conduct of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi as a judge of the Apex Court.

“Sorry, we can’t entertain,” a Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra told petitioner Arun Ramchandra Hublikar, who wanted the court to set up a panel of three judges to inquire into the alleged acts of “omission and commission” by Justice Gogoi as a Supreme Court judge.

Now a Rajya Sabha MP, Justice Gogoi served as the 46th CJI for 13 months from October 2018 to November 2019. He had remained a Judge of the Supreme Court for seven years and six months between April 2012 and November 2019.

Justice Gogoi, who retired on November 17, 2019, headed the five-judge Bench which decided the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Terming the PIL “infructuous”, the Bench wondered why the petitioner didn’t press for a hearing in last two years and now that Justice Gogoi had already retired, he was seeking directions in the matter.

“Why did you (petitioner) not press it for hearing in the last two years? This plea has become infructuous as he has demitted office,” it said.

Hublikar said he had met the Supreme Court Secretary-General for a listing of his petition but it was not listed.