Nikhila Henry - Ex CJI Gogoi's RS Nomination Calls All His Judgments Into Question, Says Legal Expert // Pratap Bhanu Mehta - Gogoi betrayal: Judges will not empower you, they are diminished men

By Dilip - Wednesday, March 18, 2020

NB: The outstanding feature of the behaviour of most of our elected leaders and some of our senior judges is the absence of shame. They demand the honour accruing to the office they hold (or held in the past), but they cannot understand that by throwing their own dignity into the dustbin, that honour evaporates.

Evidence from all over the world points to the faith that all ruling classes possess in the infinite corruptibility of human beings. But cleverness is not wisdom, and even the most arrogant of liars can be humbled by reality. Tragically, we all have to pay the price when the last bastion of democracy is corrupted by naked greed and ambition. The conduct of Gogoi and that of his predecessor is and was shameful. But what is shame to the shameless? DS

In India, where the Supreme Court is not only a constitutional court but also the final arbiter of political questions, the political detour taken by former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi raises questions about the judiciary’s independence, said Faizan Mustafa, a senior law professor and constitutional law expert
On 16 March, President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Gogoi, who retired as India’s Chief Justice in November, to the Rajya Sabha, sparking controversy. He is the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to the Upper House of the Parliament. In April last year, a junior court assistant accused Gogoi of sexually harassing her, and using his influence to terminate her employment at the Supreme Court. Gogoi has denied the allegations. In January, news reports said that she has been reinstated by the court.

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Unlike other former judges, who either contested elections to enter politics or waited for years after retirement to be elevated to a legislative profile, Gogoi transitioned to the legislature after spending his final year bailing out the government, said Mustafa.

“The legal term res ipsa loquitur, which means facts speak for themselves, applies here. When a former CJI gets a Rajya Sabha nomination after he passes judgments after judgments that favour the government, the facts speak for themselves,” Mustafa told HuffPost India in an interview. Edited excerpts:

Is it right for Justice Ranjan Gogoi to accept a legislative position on nomination after serving as CJI? Legally the former chief justice is well within his right to accept the nomination. He can also act as a bridge between the legislative and the judiciary, but this is a question of propriety. There is a difference between legality and propriety. For instance, Justice Gogoi when he was the CJI did not recuse himself from hearings on Assam NRC even though he hails from the state and as Ahom had a direct stake in the matter. At that time, the appropriate decision would have been to recuse himself from this bench. It was a matter of propriety.

Similarly, though the Constitution does not prohibit either a former CJI or any judge from entering politics after retirement, it would have been proper had both the government and Justice Gogoi employed a cooling-off period between retirement and acceptance of the post. Even IAS officers who are several ranks below the CJI are not allowed to join private establishments for two years after their retirement to prevent conflict of interests towards the end of their service. Why should the same not be applicable, as a matter of propriety, to Supreme Court judges including former CJI Gogoi?... read more:

https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/ranjan-gogoi-cji-rajya-sabha-supreme-court_in_5e71d66dc5b6f5b7c53adfd3?utm_hp_ref=in-homepage

NB: I am adding a citation from an important book on Nazism written in the 1930’s: Behemoth, The Structure and Practice of National Socialism; by Franz Neumann. (New York, republished 1963, p 27). A pdf file may be read here: <http://www.unz.org/Pub/NeumannFranz-1942-00027> DS.

(The counter revolution) ‘…tried many forms and devices, but soon learned that it could come to power only with the help of the state machine and never against it… the Kapp Putsch of 1920 and the Hitler Pustch of 1923 had proved this.. In the centre of the counter revolution stood the judiciary. Unlike administrative acts, which rest on considerations of convenience and expediency, judicial decisions rest on law, that is on right and wrong, and they always enjoy the limelight of publicity. Law is perhaps the most pernicious of all weapons in political struggles, precisely because of the halo that surrounds the concepts of right and justice…

‘Right’, Hocking has said, ‘is psychologically a claim whose infringement is met with a resentment deeper than the injury would satisfy, a resentment that may amount to passion for which men will risk life and property as they would never do for an expediency’. When it becomes ‘political’, justice breeds hatred and despair among those it singles out for attack. Those whom it favours, on the other hand, develop a profound contempt for the very value of justice, they know that it can be purchased by the powerful. As a device for strengthening one political group at the expense of others, for eliminating enemies and assisting political allies, law then threatens the fundamental convictions upon which the tradition of our civilization rests…

see also

The real tukde-tukde gang

Apoorva Mandhani: Judge Loya's Confidants Died Mysterious Deaths

Death of Judge Loya: Government documents placed before SC deepen the mystery

HC judge who asked Delhi Police to register FIR's against BJP leaders is transferred
The Delhi pogrom 2020 is Amit Shah’s answer to an election defeat

JNU Students, Teachers Attacked By Masked Men; Mob Chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'

Arun Shourie On Why The SC Must Enquire Into Loya’s Death, And Erosion of Institutions

Investigate Death Of Judge Who Was Hearing Sohrabuddin Sheikh Case: Justice AP Shah
Narendra Modi’s Reckless Politics Brings Mob Rule to New Delhi
P. B. Mehta: Our rulers want an India that thrives on cruelty, fear, division and violence

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