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Question of Ethics

When former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha, his appointment to the legislature had already been mired in controversy and several critics saw it as detrimental to the independence of the judiciary.

By Atif Shamim Syed | May 2020


Aormer chief justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi is no stranger to controversies, be it the Supreme Court crisis of 2018 or the allegation of sexual harassment in 2019.

But the recent controversy surrounding his appointment to the Rajya Sabha was something no one – not even his staunch rivals - had seen coming. In fact, no one thought that the former Chief Justice will have the tenacity to mock the principles pf judicial integrity in such a brazen manner.

This is not all. Mr. Gogoi and his wife were showered with unprecedented benefits by a protocol committee of the high court only two weeks before his retirement. These benefits, among others, included a dedicated private secretary, a grade-IV peon, a bungalow peon, and a chauffeur-driven government vehicle with fuel.

These benefits are much more than what is allowed under India’s Supreme Court Judges Rules, 1959. As if to add insult to the injury, it is not yet clear if the tax payers will continue to pay for Mr. Gogoi extravagance despite his appointment to the Rajya Sabha, and his move to the capital.

India has seen its share of immoral and unethical acts committed by politicians and public servants. However, this recent misconduct on the part of a Supreme Court judge has no precedent. Mr. Gogoi very conveniently declared that he will explain the reasons for the decision only after he had taken oath, but one of his colleagues, Justice A.P. Shah, has already affirmed what everyone knew but dared not say: that the largesse is payback from the government for serving its interests while Mr. Gogoi was in office.

If this is indeed a payback appointment, there is much on Ranjan Gogoi’s list of deliverables that needed paying back. First of all, he acted as the BJP’s front man in the Supreme Court for effecting the hasty preparation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state of Assam. People who witnessed the proceedings of the case will testify the ruthless manner in which the ex-Chief Justice admonished officials responsible for the preparation of the infamous documents.

In essence, Mr. Gogoi is the person responsible for denying citizenship to alleged Bangladeshi Muslims paving the way for their forced return to Bangladesh – a country that does not intend to accept them. His initiatives also played a very important role in the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

But the jewel in Mr. Gogoi’s crown is undoubtedly the Babri Masjid case. The ex-Chief Justice carried out hasty proceedings of the case in order to pronounce a verdict before his term was over. The verdict itself was twisted and turned in such a manner that it could conform to the demands of the ruling BJP and its right-wing allies.

Before leaving office, Mr. Ranjan Gogoi made sure that the Supreme Court and many important high courts were packed with like-minded people who would continue to support the BJP’s Hindutva ideology even after his retirement. He helped the government carry out its unlawful coup in Kashmir, and during his tenure as the Chief Justice, made sure that all cases of high importance reached the desks of selected judges.

Mr. Ranjan Gogoi’s appointment to the Rajya Sabha, and his subsequent acceptance, has made it clear that he has little or no regard for India’s fundamental constitutional principles, including the independence of the judiciary.

In 2018, Mr. Gogoi had very conveniently remarked that post-retirement jobs for judges were scars on the concept of judicial independence. Tragically, his own actions have not only deepened those scars, they have turned them into open wounds.

In fact, the episode about him have made it clear that he is a politician at heart and was never fit to become an arbiter of justice in India’s apex court.

One of the stark examples of such conduct was the NRC saga when he assumed the powers of the executive and personally oversaw the preparation of the register in Assam. NRC was completed in record time with complete disregard to formalities, procedures, and regulations with a single agenda: to declare hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the state as non-citizens.

The insidious nature of this exercise ignited communal flames in India from which the world’s so-called biggest democracy has yet to recover.

During its first term, the BJP government had appointed another retired Supreme Court judge as the Governor of the State of Kerala. It was seen as a quid pro quo for his delivering a decision in 2013 favouring Amit Shah – Narendra Modi’s right hand man, and the main person behind BJP’s election management. The said judge, P. Sathasivam, had said in his defence that he hadn’t known in 2013 that Amit Shah was to become BJP’s president a few years later.

In India, the judiciary is regarded as a sacred cow. It is one of the pillars of the Constitution that cannot be tampered with, not even by the legislature. By appointing Mr. Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha, the BJP government is sending a stark message: it can, and will, play with the Constitution of India whenever it wants, and in whatever manner it chooses.

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