53% attendance, one debate in 6 years: Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi retires as Rajya Sabha MP

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi completed his six-year term as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

This brought to an end a tenure that had attracted significant attention since his appointment soon after retiring from the Supreme Court of India.

When the House assembled at 11 am today, Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, CP Radhakrishnan, bid farewell to Gogoi and acknowledged his presence in the Upper House.

“As a distinguished Jurist, he brought unparalleled legal acumen and experience to the deliberations of the Rajya Sabha. His interventions in the Rajya Sabha reflected his deep understanding of the legislative process and public interest. The House will certainly miss his wise counsel, measured interventions and the gravitas he brought to our discussions,” said the Chairman.

Gogoi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on March 16, 2020 and took oath as a member on March 19, 2020.

His nomination had come less than four months after he demitted office as CJI on November 17, 2019. The move was widely debated at the time, with critics questioning the proximity between the executive and the judiciary.

The nomination nevertheless had received strong support from the Bar Council of India, which described it as an opportunity to strengthen institutional dialogue.

Gogoi himself had defended the decision to accept the nomination, stating that he saw it as a call to public service and an opportunity to contribute to national debate. He said at the time that cooperation between the legislature and the judiciary was essential for nation-building.

However, data available from parliamentary records indicates that Gogoi’s legislative participation remained limited during his tenure. According to publicly available statistics compiled by PRS Legislative Research, his attendance stood at roughly 53%.

Records of the Rajya Sabha further show that Gogoi took part in only one debate during his six-year term. His intervention came in August 2023 during discussions on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, commonly referred to as the Delhi Services Bill.

While supporting the legislation, Gogoi had said that the Parliament had the authority under Article 239AA of the Constitution to make laws on services in Delhi. During the debate, he had also questioned the Basic Structure Doctrine, stating that it had “a very debatable jurisprudential basis.”

The remark had drawn attention because, while serving as Chief Justice, Gogoi had earlier upheld the doctrine in the Rojer Mathew case, where the Supreme Court held that judicial independence is part of the Constitution’s basic structure while striking down the Tribunal Rules, 2017.

Apart from this intervention, parliamentary records indicate that Gogoi did not raise any questions in the House during his term.

In 2021, remarks made by Gogoi in a television interview by NDTV had also triggered controversy.

Two lawmakers of the All India Trinamool Congress sought to move a privilege motion against him after he stated that he attended the House when he felt it necessary and that, as an independent nominated member, he was not bound by a "party whip".

During the same interview, Gogoi explained that his attendance had also been affected by the pandemic and by discomfort with the seating arrangements during the COVID-19 period.