Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi setting wrong precedence, should reject RS nomination, says Sanjay Hegde

Senior lawyer Sanjay Hegde on Tuesday urged former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to reject his nomination to the Rajya Sabha and said he is setting a "very wrong" precedence.

"I think Justice Gogoi should not have accepted the nomination at all. He has set a very wrong precedence. This decision is breaching the wall of separation between the legislature and executive and the judiciary," Hegde told reporters here.

The senior lawyer, who was one of the mediators appointed to convince the Shaheen Bagh protestors to demonstrate at a different site, said that the Constitution can only work when there is the separation of powers and that of institutions.

"If one institution intrudes into the others or can be seen influencing the other, the constitutional balance will be lost. Former CJI Gogoi has put at risk not only the judicial legacy but also imperil the judgment of those who sat with him and signed those judgments," Hegde said.

"In very simple words supposing you had a case and I was the judge. I give judgment against you and in favor of the government. Then, if after my retirement I went and took a gift from the government and joined them, would you think that judgment was fair?" he added.

Hedge said that Gogoi should refuse to accept the nomination, "even at this late stage".

This comes after President Ram Nath Kovind, on Monday, nominated former CJI Gogoi to the Upper House of the Parliament.