Published 14:50 IST, March 17th 2020
'Trust in judicial system will be eroded': Gehlot attacks Centre on Gogoi's RS nomination
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot took to Twitter to attack the central government stating that centre appears keen on 'destroying independence of every institution'
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The nomination of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi for Rajya Sabha has attracted criticism from all opposition parties. Latest to join the bandwagon was Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who took to Twitter to attack the central government stating that the centre is "hell-bent on destroying the independence of every institution".
Nomination of former CJI #RanjanGogoi as a #RajyaSabha member by NDA, soon after his retirement is very surprising. It shows NDA is hell bent on destroying independence of every institution
— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) March 17, 2020
In a follow-up tweet over the row, Gehlot cited Justice Madan B Lokur who was a Supreme Court judge along with Ranjan Gogoi commented against Gogoi's nomination for Rajya Sabha. Gehlot said that the nomination of Gogoi for Rajya Sabha will cast "doubt on the fairness of judgements" delivered by the judges and will also "erode people's trust in the judicial system".
and as Justice (retired) Madan B Lokur said, it redefines the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary.
— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) March 17, 2020
This will erode people’s trust in judicial system & cast a doubt upon fairness of judgements delivered.
Other Opposition leaders' criticism towards Gogoi
Other Congress leader such as PL Punia and Kapil Sibal also questioned the nomination of ex-CJI in Rajya Sabha and accused Ranjan Gogoi of compromising the integrity of the institution. Besides Congress, several other opposition leaders including Sitaram Yechury and Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Centre over the nomination of justice Gogoi.
Owaisi questioned if it was ‘Quid Pro Quo’ further questioning how will the judiciary remain independent after the inclusion of a former judge into the legislative body.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in a bid to bash the ex-CJI, listed out the judgements given by him such as NRC, Ram Mandir, Article 370 hinting it as an act of bias towards the ruling government. She called the ex-CJI a “greedy lord” and asked if he was “Politician or judge all along?”
President nominated Ranjan Gogoi for Rajya Sabha
According to a notification issued by the Centre on Monday, the President has, under clause (1) of Article 80 of the Constitution, nominated the former CJI to fill the vacancy in Rajya Sabha due to the retirement of one of the nominated member. Gogoi had retired from the Supreme Court on November 17 after pronouncing the historic Ayodhya verdict. 51 seats in Rajya Sabha will fall vacant in April, five more in June, one in July, and 11 in November this year.
14:50 IST, March 17th 2020