Former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurien Joseph on Tuesday said former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi’s decision to accept the nomination to the Rajya Sabha “has certainly shaken the confidence of the common man on the independence of the judiciary”.
Justice Joseph was part of the four sitting judges who had held an unprecedented media conference on January 12, 2018, to speak out about the way cases were being assigned when Justice Dipak Misra was the Chief Justice of India. Justice Gogoi, who eventually became Chief Justice of India, was among the four judges.
On Monday night, President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Justice Gogoi, who retired as Chief Justice only four months ago after presiding over the Ayodhya and Rafale cases, to the Rajya Sabha.
On Tuesday, PTI quoted Justice Gogoi as having told a news channel in Assam: “I have accepted the offer of the nomination to the Rajya Sabha because of the strong conviction that the legislature and the 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 added: “Let God give me the strength to have an independent voice in Parliament. I have much to say, but let me take the oath in Parliament and then I shall open up.”
In New Delhi, Justice Joseph, who had decided not to take up any post after retirement, did not mince words.
Justice Joseph recalled: “‘We have discharged our debt to the nation,’ was the statement made by Justice Ranjan Gogoi along with the three of us on January 12, 2018. I am surprised as to how Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who once exhibited such courage of conviction to uphold the independence of the judiciary, has compromised the noble principles on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.”
Justice Joseph added: “Our great nation continues to be firmly grounded on the basic structures and constitutional values, thanks mainly to the independent judiciary. The moment this confidence of the people is shaken, the moment there is a perception that a section among judges are otherwise biased or looking forward, the tectonic alignment of the nation built on solid foundations is shaken.”
The former Supreme Court judge recalled that the purpose of evolving the collegium system under which the five senior-most judges of the top court alone can decide on the appointments and transfers of judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts was to protect the independence of the judiciary and keep it aloof from extraneous influence.
Justice Joseph said: “Only to strengthen this alignment, the collegium system was introduced by the Supreme Court in 1993 to make the judiciary completely independent and not interdependent. I came out in public in an unprecedented move along with Justice Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Madan B. Lokur to tell the nation that there was a threat to this foundation and now I feel the threat is at large. This was also the reason why I decided not to take up any posts after retirement.”
“According to me, the acceptance of nomination as member of the Rajya Sabha by a former Chief Justice of India has certainly shaken the confidence of the common man in the independence of the judiciary, which is also one of the basic structures of the Constitution of India,” Justice Joseph said.
Contacted in Guwahati, Justice Gogoi said: “ I do not want to comment on what Justice Joseph has said. They are Justice Joseph’s comments. I have nothing to say on that.”
