Justice Lokur on Gogoi's RS nomination: Has last bastion fallen?

In January 2018, the lawns of the apex court witnessed history when four senior-most judges held a press conference condemning the way the then CJI, Dipak Misra, handed out cases.

Apart from Gogoi and Lokur, Justices J Chelameswar and Kurian Joseph had addressed the media, claiming that "democracy was in danger". They spoke about the basic tenets of the Constitution.

Their move was applauded.

The four judges said the administration of SC wasn't in order and that remedial measures must be taken.

Barring Gogoi, all three judges were set to retire soon. He was poised to be nominated by Misra as his successor. Soon, ballads were sung for his "courage".

It was Gogoi who mentioned the controversial death of Justice BH Loya in 2014, at the press meet.

Nevertheless, Gogoi was nominated as CJI and took oath on October 3, 2018. He stayed in office for a little over one year but consistently remained in the news.

Apart from presiding over crucial judgment like Ayodhya, Rafale, and the Assam NRC issue, Gogoi was the only CJI ever, who was accused of sexual harassment by a junior staffer of the top court.

The victim, who went public with the details of the harassment last year, claimed Gogoi tried all tricks of the book to silence her.

He was given a clean-chit by an in-house panel. The victim left the probe alleging bias on the part of judges, and Gogoi came out unscathed.

After a controversial tenure, he is now headed for the Rajya Sabha.

The notification, issued last evening by the Ministry of Home Affairs, shocked many, but Lokur wasn't surprised.

"There has been speculation for some time now about what honorific would Justice Gogoi get. So, in that sense, the nomination is not surprising, but what is surprising is that it came so soon. This redefines the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the judiciary," he told IE.

That's not all. In January, Gogoi's brother, retired Air Marshall Anjan K. Gogoi, became a non-official member of the North Eastern Council.

Downplaying the post-retirement gifts given to Gogoi, BJP followers reminded of former CJIs, Justice Ranganath Misra and Justice Hidayatullah.

Mishra, who probed the 1984 riots was elevated in 1998, seven years after he retired. Similarly, Hidayatullah was made the Vice-President.

Naturally, Congress slammed Gogoi for accepting the offer, with Kapil Sibal saying the former CJI compromised his integrity. In contrast, Sibal said, Justice HR Khanna stood up to the government.

Facing a barrage of hate comments, Gogoi said he will go to Delhi tomorrow and take the oath.

"Then I will speak in detail to the media why I accepted this," he told NDTV.