I have accepted the offer of the nomination to Rajya Sabha because of strong conviction that the Legislature and Judiciary must, at some point of time, work together for nation-building. My presence in Parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the Judiciary before the Legislature and vice versa.

Guwahati: Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Ranjan Gogoi defended his decision to accept nomination to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Speaking with the media persons, he said that he wants the Legislature and Judiciary to work together for the nation-building.

He will speak in detail about the issue, over which he and the Modi Government have come under attack, after taking oath as a member of Rajya Sabha. He said that he have accepted the offer of the nomination to Rajya Sabha because of strong conviction that the Legislature and Judiciary must, at some point of time, work together for nation-building. He also said that his presence in Parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the Judiciary before the Legislature and vice versa.

Opposition parties including the Congress have questioned the nomination of Gogoi to the RS barely months after he retired in November last year. The former Supreme Court Judge Justice Kurian Joseph has reacted strongly to the nomination of former CJI Ranjan Gogoi as member of Rajya Sabha saying that he has “Compromised noble principles” of the Independence and impartiality of Judiciary. He also said that according to me, the acceptance of nomination as member of Rajya Sabha by a former CJI has certainly shaken the confidence of a common man on the independence of Judiciary, which is an also basic structure of the Constitution.