"Insult To Parliament": Congress On Justice Gogoi's Remark On Attendance

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday called out former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi's explanation about his low attendance in the Rajya Sabha. Mr Ramesh said that Justice Gogoi's remarks in an interview to NDTV in which he said he will attend the Upper House "when he feels like" amounts to "insult to parliament".

The parliament records show Justice Gogoi has an attendance of less than 10 per cent in the Rajya Sabha since he became a member last year.

Speaking to NDTV, Justice Gogoi had cited the pandemic as one of the reasons for his poor attendance.

"You ignore the fact that for one or two sessions, I have submitted a letter to the house saying that because of Covid, on medical advice I am not attending the session," he said.

"I go to the Rajya Sabha whenever I feel like it... when I think there are matters of importance on which I should speak," Justice Gogoi went on to say.

Mr Ramesh, clearly not pleased by Justice Gogoi's comments, said that parliament is not a platform just to speak.

"It is extraordinary and actually an insult to Parliament that former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi says he will attend the Rajya Sabha, to which he has been nominated, when he feels like it! Parliament is not just about speaking but also listening," Mr Ramesh tweeted.

In his just-published memoir, Justice Gogoi, defended his decision to join the Rajya Sabha four months after retiring from the Supreme Court, a move that had come under widespread criticism.

He said when he was offered the position, he accepted it without hesitation, since he wanted to raise issues pertaining to the judiciary and the North East region, to which he belongs.