President Kovind nominates ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha

Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was on Monday (March 16) nominated by President Ram Nath Kovind to Rajya Sabha.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Ranjan Gogoi to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated member,” read a government notification.

Justice Gogoi, who retired from the Supreme Court on November 17, 2019, in his last judgement headed the five-judge Constitution Bench that concluded the long-standing Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case in a unanimous verdict.

The 46^th Chief Justice of India was a part of several key judgements, including the bench that twice dismissed pleas seeking probe into the Rafale deal and he also headed a bench which in a 3:2 majority, gave verdict towards the petitions seeking review of the top court’s landmark judgement on allowing women and girls of all ages to enter Sabarimala temple in 2018.

Justice Gogoi was also proactive while heading a bench which implement NRC in Assam and completed it within a given timeframe.

Last year, Justice Gogoi was given a clean chit by an in-house committee over the sexual harassment allegations made on him by a woman who alleged that on October 10 and October 11, 2018, the CJI had made sexual advances in his home office, where she was employed, and touched her inappropriately.

A bench led by the then CJI Gogoi issued a signed statement calling the allegations a “conspiracy.”