Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri slammed the ruling BJP at the Centre over the nomination of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha, terming it as a very big attack on the judiciary and an unforgivable crime for shaking the foundations of the Constitution.
In a statement, Mr. Alagiri said it was a long-standing tradition that Supreme Court judges should not accept any post for two years after their retirement. But this tradition has been demolished by the appointment of Justice (retd) Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha and also referred to late BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s views on such appointments.
Referring to the cases presided over by Justice Gogoi, such as the Rafale deal, the Ram Mandir case, overseeing the National Register of Citizens in Assam, the case relating to the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, Mr. Alagiri said the judgements in these cases saved the BJP from various dangers.
He also pointed to various arguments being put forth by the BJP about appointment of judges to different posts and said those judges had taken up positions only after three years or more after retirement.
“If the BJP provides such post retirement posts to judges, it raises the fear of courts losing their uniqueness.”
Mr. Alagiri demanded that Justice Gogoi must reconsider his decision to take up the Rajya Sabha post, as there are widespread protests against to nominate him. “If he doesn’t do so, he will be responsible for criticism that he has brought disrepute to the independence of the judiciary,” Mr. Alagiri said.
