New Delhi: 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, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and Rashtriya Janata Dal shouted slogans and disrupted the House proceedings.
Rajya Sabha chairman intervened and cautioned the lawmakers against sloganeering and expunged the slogans from the record. “It is very unbecoming of members of Parliament. No, this is not the way. 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 on the issue. “You know the Constitutional provision, you know the precedent, you know the power of the President [to nominate someone to Rajya Sabha],” he said. Naidu said the lawmakers should not do anything in the House that lowers its dignity.
Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rajya Sabha has a great tradition of having eminent persons from diverse fields, including former chief justices, being nominated to it by those who are now opposing Gogoi’s nomination. “Ranjan Gogoi will surely contribute his best as a nominated member,” Prasad said. He added the opposition was being “grossly unfair” to Gogoi.
{{/usCountry}}Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rajya Sabha has a great tradition of having eminent persons from diverse fields, including former chief justices, being nominated to it by those who are now opposing Gogoi’s nomination. “Ranjan Gogoi will surely contribute his best as a nominated member,” Prasad said. He added the opposition was being “grossly unfair” to Gogoi.
{{/usCountry}}Gogoi, 65, who retired as the CJI in November after a 13-month tenure, took oath in English in the name of God.
Opposition parties have questioned Gogoi’s nomination four months after he retired in November, with Congress saying the move has hit the belief of people in the judiciary.
Gogoi on Tuesday said he accepted the nomination because of a strong conviction that the legislature and judiciary should work together at some point to help nation-building.
Social activist Madhu Purnima Kishwar challenged Gogoi’s 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 Bharatiya Janata Party.