Attorney general urged for consent for proceeding against Ranjan Gogoi

NEW DELHI: K.K. Venugopal, the Attorney General for India, has been urged to give his consent for proceeding with criminal contempt of court prosecution against former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi for "insulting the Hon'ble Supreme Court and for scandalizing and attempting to lower its dignity" at the recently held India Today Conclave.

 

Writing to the AG, RTI activist Saket S Gokhale, said, "This is to bring to your notice certain comments made by Rajya Sabha MP & Former CJI Sh. Ranjan Gogoi during a conclave event organized by the India Today Group on 12/02/2021."

 

He further went on to allege that "these statements, especially coming from a former Chief Justice of India who is now a Parliamentarian, constitute a gross contempt of court and undermine the status of the Hon'ble Supreme Court especially considering they come from not a layperson but from someone who sat on the highest scat of our judiciary."

 

He then goes on to pinpoint the quotes made by Gogoi in which he had "undermined the status of the Supreme Court."

 

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"You want a 5 trillion dollar economy but you have a ramshackled judiciary."

 

"If you were to go to the court, you'd be only washing your dirty linen in the court. You won't get a verdict. 1 have no hesitation in saying it."

 

"Only corporations, willing to take chances with their millions of rupees go to the Supreme Court."

 

"What is your opinion of the judiciary? Not very positive."

 

"The judicial system has not worked for more reason than one."

 

"Unfortunately, there are many judges who are succumbing to criticism made in the media."

 

"It is stressed again here that contemptous comments such as these made by a former Chief Justice of India carry far more weight and result in a major scandalization of the judiciary as compared to when they're made by a layperson," he added.

 

The letter sought the AG's sanction for filing a contempt of court proceedings against Ranjan Gogoi "for the contemptuous statements made at the India Today conclave which include but aren't limited to the statements reproduced above."