It redefines independence & integrity of the judiciary: Justice (retired) Lokur over Gogoi’s nomination to RS

Justice (retired) Madan B Lokur has reacted strongly to the nomination of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha by the President, Ram Nath Kovind.

Accodring to a report in The Indian Express, Lokur said, “There has been speculation for sometime now about what honorific would Justice Gogoi get. So, in that sense the nomination is not surprising, but what is surprising is that it came so soon. This redefines the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary. Has the last bastion fallen?”

Gogoi was among the four senior-most judges (Madan B Lokur, J Chelameswar, and Kurian Joseph) who held an unprecedented presser in January 2018 questioning the then CJI's way of functioning.

Gogoi headed the five-judge bench which delivered a landmark judgement in 70-year-old Ayodhya title dispute in November 2019. The apex court had ordered the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site by setting up a trust, while ordering five acres be given to Muslims in Ayodhya to construct a mosque.

The bench held that the "possessory claim of the Hindus to the composite whole of the disputed property stands on a better footing than the evidence from the Muslims," while emphasising on tolerance and mutual co-existence, which played a crucial role to nourish the secular commitment of the country and its people.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India in October 2018. He was appointed for a 13-month stint, and he took over from Justice Dipak Mishra.

The bench also comprising CJI-designate Justice S.A. Bobde, and Justices S.A. Nazeer, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan also said: "The evidence indicates that despite the existence of a mosque at the site, Hindu worship at the place believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram was not restricted."

A bench headed by Gogoi also ruled that Chief Justice Office falls under RTI but placed some riders. And, in another judgement, a bench headed by him in a majority judgement of 3:2 referred the Sabarimala temple judgement of 2018 to a larger bench. Justice Gogoi also pursued the Assam NRC, and tasked the authorities concerned to publish the final list before August 31, 2019.