Editorial: Of judges and jobs

The flabbergasting irony? That Bench was headed by none other than former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi. The retired Justice has now fetched himself the cosy sinecure of a Rajya Sabha nomination from the ruling dispensations.

And this, a mere four months after he retired. Handing out post-retirement sinecures to judges is not new. Successive governments have appointed retired judges, ostensibly because they are perceived as being ‘friendly’ and have delivered favourable judgments – as heads of tribunals and commissions, as members of Parliament, and as governors. It was only in 2014 that the Modi government controversially appointed former CJI P Sathasivam as the Governor of Kerala, a move that resulted in ugly allegations that the posting was recompense for a judgment in a case relating to Home Minister Amit Shah.

Inevitably, similar allegations are making the rounds in the case of Justice Gogoi. But the issue is much larger than whether such charges are true or not, in this and other specific cases.

As constitutional experts have pointed out, the prospect of post-retirement jobs, particularly those that come close on the heels of demitting judicial office, runs the real risk of compromising the independence of the judiciary and lowering its prestige in the eyes of people. Moreover, it could encourage a dodgy culture of promoting friendly or favourable judgments in the hope of cosy post-retirement benefits.

The BJP has clearly forgotten the high-minded noises it made when it was in Opposition on this very issue. The former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, for instance, was forthright in saying, “Pre-retirement judgments are influenced by post-retirement jobs.” His senior party colleague Nitin Gadkari had recommended a two-year cooling off period before they are appointed to other positions.

This is a much weaker suggestion than that made by the Law Commission of India which, in 1959, had recommended a constitutional bar be imposed on judges accepting post-retirement appointments made by the Central and State governments. But a cooling off is a start insofar as it will prevent the gross impropriety of handing over sinecures of the kind that Justice Gogoi will enjoy once elected.

As for the BJP, it has covered itself in a thick cloak of hypocrisy and taken a decision that does nothing to protect the dignity and high status of judicial office. Justice Gogoi should have had the wisdom to reject the offer. And he should have had the fortitude to put the image of the judiciary over his own personal desires.