The former Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha MP Ranjan Gogoi spoke at length about the controversy surrounding the Ram Janmabhoomi, Rafale deal and other verdicts delivered by the Supreme Court at the India Today Conclave East 2021 in Kolkata.
He, at the very outset refuted the allegations of a nexus between his nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat and the verdicts in cases with political implications including the Ram Janmabhoomi title suit decided by the Supreme Court in 2019.
He stated in this regard that:
"I thought I would do some constructive work in the Rajya Sabha."
On his nomination by the ruling party lead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to the Rajya Sabha within a year of his retirement as the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi said,
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"I am least concerned about which party appointed me. I don't have a constituency, the entire country is my constituency."
'Judicial Order and Political Distinction- two different aspects'
Throwing light on the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict, Ranjan Gogoi stated,
"The people projected the Ram Janmabhoomi judgement as Modi government's greatest success. They failed to make the finer distinction between a judicial order and a political decision."
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"A court verdict will benefit somebody and will work to somebody's prejudice. The moment you decide the case, the judge has another enemy in his pocket," he further added.
'Rafale case was very simple'
Ranjan Gogoi said the Rafale verdict delivered by a bench of the Supreme Court headed by him.
"The Rafale case was very simple. The question was, in an aircraft procurement contract, do we apply the same parameters as a building contract. I said no. The parameters would be far more stringent in aircraft acquisition contract," Gogoi said.
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He further explained why the Rafale case was heard in compliance with the "sealed cover procedure". He said,
"I did not give lawyers the details because the sealed cover had the cost of armaments and I could not make that public."
'Rajya Sabha seat- not a bargain'
Justifying his position as a member of the Rajya Sabha, Ranjan Gogoi said,
"Give me this much credit. Someone who delivered the Ayodhya, Rafale and Sabarimala verdicts, don't you think he would bargain? If it would have been a bargain, it would have been bigger. A Rajya Sabha seat is not a bargain."
"Till today, a year has elapsed since I took oath as a Rajya Sabha member but I haven't taken a penny from Rajya Sabha . I gave it in writing that I don't want any money."
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Responding to a question about a Supreme Court judge who praised PM Modi publicly, Ranjan Gogoi said,
"The learned judge shouldn't have made that statement. If he had admiration for the PM, he should've kept it to himself. A statement that PM is a great man doesn't show any quid pro quo."
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