Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated to Rajya Sabha. As a CJI, Ranjan Gogoi had presided over many crucial benches that delivered several landmark judgments, including Ramjanambhoomi land dispute, the abolition of homosexuality in India, entry of women in Sabrimala temple and clean chit to Modi government on Rafale deal.
Justice Gogoi’s nomination has drawn some sharp reactions from the Opposition. Many leaders of opposition parties suggested that Gogoi’s nomination was quid pro quo.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s tenure as judge and CJI was marked by some controversies and personal allegations but that never came in the way of his judicial work that was reflected in the last few days when benches headed by him delivered some path-breaking judgments.
He etched his name in the annals of history when a five-judge bench headed by him on November 9 brought an end to the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.
However, his tenure in the Supreme Court will also be remembered for being part of a presser by the ‘gang of four’ senior-most judges in January last year which questioned the then CJI’s way of functioning.
Later at a public function, Justice Ranjan 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 Ranjan Gogoi had said at the same function.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s tenure as CJI was not free of controversy as he faced allegations of sexual harassment, of which he was cleared.
However, Justice Ranjan Gogoi is more likely to 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.
