New Delhi, First Published Dec 10, 2021, 11:00 AM IST
Delhi: Former Supreme Court Chief Justice and Rajya Sabha MP Ranjan Gogoi (ex-CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has said that he had dinner at a five-star hotel and drank his precious wine after the Ayodhya verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case. The revelation is in the autobiography of Justice for the Judge: An Autobiography.
After the verdict was issued on November 9, 2019, the Secretary General of the Supreme Court had arranged a photo session. It was in the gallery outside Court Number One of the Supreme Court. It was then revealed that he himself had taken the judges to Taj Mansingh and had eaten Chinese dishes and exquisite wine. The five-member bench comprising former Chief Justice SA Bobde, former Judge Ashok Bhushan, Justices DY Chandrachud and S Abdul Naseer was also present. According to Ranjan Gogoi’s book, he paid the party bill as an adult.
The former Chief Justice said in the book that the collegium’s recommendation to appoint Justice Akhil Qureshi as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which was unpopular with the Central Government, was withdrawn to avoid conflict between constitutional institutions. In August 2019, following the recommendation of the collegium, the Union Law Minister had issued a letter expressing his opposition to the appointment. The letter pointed out the problems in some of the judgments. On May 10, 2019, the collegium withdrew its recommendation to make Akhil Qureshi the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, feeling that it would not be good for it to be discussed in public later, the book says.
Meanwhile, Stis Akhil Qureshi has been transferred from the Tripura High Court to the Rajasthan High Court in September 2021.
I believe it is right that I attended the press conference against the then Chief Justice Deepak Mishra in 2018. However, there was no idea that such a big press conference would be held at Justice Chelameshwar’s house, he said in his autobiography.
He said at a book launch on Wednesday that it was not right for him to be a member of the bench that considered the sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a Supreme Court employee.
Last Updated Dec 10, 2021, 11:00 AM IST
.