Congress on Thursday said that the nomination of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha has "undermined" the independence of the judiciary and "lowered" the dignity of the office he once held.
Addressing the media after Gogoi took oath as the Rajya Sabha member, Congress leader Anand Sharma said that the party has "strong objection and reservation" with the ex-CJI's appointment.
The Congress staged a walkout when Gogoi was taking the oath and raised slogans.
"We have strong objection and reservation because he is recently retired Chief Justice of India who has given many controversial judgements. He himself has no hesitation to say he was a controversial Chief Justice himself. His acceptance and government appointment raised bonafide questions about Quid Pro Quo," said Sharma, flanked by former union minister P.Chidambaram.
"It has lowered the dignity of every office that he held rather disgrace the judiciary. We feel what has happened is wrong. It severely undermines the independence of the judiciary. it sends a wrong message to all present and future judges," he added.
President Ram Nath Kovind had nominated the former CJI to the Rajya Sabha on March 16.
Gogoi served as the 46th Chief Justice of India from October 3, 2018, to November 17, 2019.
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