Justice Ranjan Gogoi To Take Oath As Rajya Sabha Member Tomorrow
NEW DELHI : Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi will take oath as Rajya Sabha member on Thursday, sources said. Rajya Sabha sources said he will take oath at 11 am on Thursday.
On Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha. A government notification issued on this day informed that Gogoi has been nominated to the upper house of the Parliament.
Ranjan Gogoi, who held the post of CJI from October 3 2018, to November 17, 2019, led several historic decisions during his tenure including key judgments in highly-sensitive disputes like the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid title dispute case, the ‘Entry of women to Sabarimala Temple’ row, and the Rafale deal controversy, and the Assam NRC dispute — to name a few.
CJI Gogoi’s latest milestone was that on November 9, the five-judge Bench headed by him delivered the verdict in the much-debated Ayodhya dispute case. Gogoi’s decision has been questioned by many parties but he has said that he would speak in detail about accepting the offer of a seat to the Upper House after he takes the oath.
On Tuesday, briefly talking to reporters who went to meet him at his residence in Guwahati, Gogoi said, “I will go to Delhi probably tomorrow.” He added, “Let me first take the oath, then I will speak in detail to the media why I accepted this and why I am going to Rajya Sabha.”
On the criticism of his RS nomination, Gogoi told a local news television channel, “I have accepted the offer of the nomination to the Rajya Sabha because of a strong conviction that the legislature and judiciary must at some point of time work together for nation-building.
“My presence in parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the judiciary before the legislature and vice versa,” he said. “Let God give me the strength to have an independent voice in the parliament”, the former CJI said, adding, “I have much to say, but let me take the oath in the parliament and then I shall open up”.
Mr Gogoi (65) retired as Chief Justice of India in November last year after a tenure of a little over 13 months. He will be the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to Rajya Sabha.
