Competitive impropriety: On Ranjan Gogoi’s Rajya Sabha nomination(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Polity
Prelims level: Rajya Sabha nomination
Mains level:Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of variousConstitutional Bodies

Context:

• The President’s nomination of former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, as a Rajya Sabha member so soon after his retirement will be seen as a crass example of a regime rewarding a member of the judiciary for meeting its expectations during his tenure.

Background:

• It will be futile to argue that it is a well-deserved recognition for an eminent jurist.
• The gap of four months between his retirement and nomination, and the fact that a series of decisions in his court were in seeming conformity with the present government’s expectations militate against such a justification.

The second argument:

• There have been instances of retired Chief Justices being nominated to the Upper House or appointed Governors, does not cut ice either, as it is nothing more than a dubious claim to the same level of impropriety.
• In fact, references to the late CJI Ranganath Mishra and Justice Baharul Islam as valid precedents reflect quite poorly on the executive, and amount to competitive impropriety.

Past examples:

• There continues to be a perception that these were lapses in propriety. Justice Mishra’s commission of inquiry absolved the Congress from any organisational responsibility for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Justice Islam exonerated a Congress Chief Minister of wrong-doing in a financial scandal in Bihar.
• The party had helped Justice Islam move both ways between Parliament and the judiciary. He quit the Upper House in 1972 to take office as a High Court judge. In 1983, he quit as a Supreme Court judge to contest an election.

Cohesion between the judiciary and the legislature:

• Mr. Gogoi’s appointment cannot be seen, as he has sought to project, as a way of ensuring cohesion between the judiciary and the legislature. He no longer represents the judiciary, and his contribution will be........................................

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Way forward:

• Also, he ought to have followed the example of his former colleagues who had declared that they would not accept any post-retirement work from the government.
• And one cannot forget that his tenure was clouded by an employee’s complaint of sexual harassment, which acquired greater credibility after she was reinstated following his exoneration by a committee of judges.
• As for the government, making such an offer to a just-retired CJI is not mere brazenness. It indicates an alarming intention to undermine judicial authority so that the elected executive is seen as all-powerful.

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  General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Sepsis, consider the following statements:
1. It is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by the body’s immune system overreacting in response to an infection.
2. Sepsis can be caused only by Viruses.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: .......................................................................

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Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are the exceptions currently in place to ensure independence of the judiciary?What the 16-point code of conduct for judges says?