Alagiri asks Gogoi to reconsider RS membership 

“If he fails to do so, he (Gogoi) would be accused of leaving an indelible blot on the integrity and independence of judiciary,” Alagiri said on Wednesday.

Recalling the statement of Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushyant Dave that the nomination of the CJI was “strongly objectionable” and shocked everyone, the TNCC chief, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said that there could not have been a harsher criticism than this.

Referring to the allegation that former CJI P Sathasivam was appointed Governor for giving a favourable verdict to Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin encounter case, Alagiri said that courts were facing the threat of losing their respect because of the ruling BJP offering such concessions to judges.

Taking exception to the allegation of BJP that former Supreme Court judge Ranganath Mishra was also nominated to Rajya Sabha by the Congress, Alagiri clarified that the BJP, which was unable to respond to criticism surrounding Gogoi’s nomination, was making baseless charges to divert the people. “Ranganath Mishra retired in 1991, but he was successfully nominated to the Upper House in 1998. Like Gogoi, Mishra was not nominated by the President,” TNCC chief argued.

Citing various verdicts passed by Gogoi in sensational cases, especially the Rafale and Ayodhya land dispute case, Alagiri said that no one could deny that the verdicts had staved off BJP from the threats posed by the judiciary.

The TNCC chief also remarked that the nomination of Gogoi would not have happened if the ruling BJP had given serious thought to the view of its former minister Arun Jaitley that a former judge should not accept any posts for two years from the date of his retirement to avoid direct or indirect intervention of government in the functioning of a judge.