New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday submitted a privilege notice against former Chief Justice of India (CJI) India Ranjan Gogoi for his remarks, “I go to the Rajya Sabha whenever I feel like it.”
Parliament records show he signed in for less than 10 per cent of all sittings since March 2020.
Gogoi had said this in an interview to NDTV focused on his memoir “Justice for the Judge”.
Justice Gogoi’s statements are in contempt of the Rajya Sabha, undermine the dignity of the house and constitute a breach of privilege, the notice submitted by the TMC said.
The notice also highlighted the controversial excerpts.
“You ignore the fact that for one or two sessions, I had submitted a letter to the house saying due to Covid (on grounds of medical advice) I will not be attending the session. Until a little before the last Winter Session, you could enter the Rajya Sabha after only an RT-PCR and personally I did not feel comfortable going there. Social distancing norms have been enforced, they are not being observed. The sitting arrangements, I don’t find very comfortable. I go to the Rajya Sabha when I feel like, when I think there are matters of importance on which I should speak. I am a nominated member, not governed by any party whip. Therefore, whenever the bell rings for the party members to come, it does not bound me, I go there of my choice and come out on my choice… I am an independent member of the house,” Justice Gogoi said in the interview.
He also told NDTV: “What is the magic about Rajya Sabha? I would have been better off in terms of pay, emoluments if I had been chairman of a tribunal. I am not taking a penny from the Rajya Sabha.”
Notably, Justice Gogoi joined Rajya Sabha four months after retiring from the Supreme Court, against widespread criticism. He said he accepted the position without hesitation since he wanted to raise issues of the judiciary and the northeast region, to which he belongs.
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