5-Star Meal, Wine, Not Celebration Of Ayodhya Order: Justice Gogoi To NDTV

The recently launched memoirs of Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the former Chief Justice of India, includes a photograph of him with the other judges of the Ayodhya Bench at a dinner in a luxury hotel in Delhi, captioned 'Celebrating the Landmark Ayodhya Verdict'.

In his book, Chief Justice Gogoi says: "In the evening (of delivering the verdict), I took the judges for dinner to Taj Mansingh Hotel. We ate Chinese food and shared a bottle of wine, the best available there. I picked the tab, being the eldest."

Asked if it was appropriate to be celebrating the verdict in a contentious issue as the Ayodhya dispute in an interview with NDTV, Justice Gogoi denied that the dinner was a celebration. "Not celebrate. Not celebrate. When you go for dinner with friends, at times, don't you feel like tasting outside food?" he asked.    

"Each of these judges have worked and worked and worked for four months (on the Ayodhya verdict). My judges and all of us worked so hard, we thought we will take a break. We have committed something that is not permissible?" he told NDTV.  

The interview was in light of Justice Gogoi's autobiography, titled "Justice for the Judge", which also tackles the controversy over his decision to preside over a hearing convened in the light of sexual harassment charges levelled against him by a woman staff member of the court.  

"In my book, there is a sentence, that in retrospect, perhaps my participation on the bench was not correct," he said.    

He said the decision was driven by concern over his reputation.  

"CJIs (Chief Justices of India) don't descend from the heaven. 40 years of reputation built up over hard work is sought to be destroyed, you are required to take a call. Some part of it goes wrong."

At the end  of the hearing, the Bench passed an order asking the media to be careful of reporting "wild and scandalous allegations", as if writing off the allegations against Justice Gogoi at the very outset. However, Justice Gogoi, who was himself part of that Bench,   said it was "an ineffective order".

"The order is a kind of advice given to the media to be restrained in reporting the incident... There is no question of any effective order being passed, which has the effect of exonerating me, as people later have termed it... What the Bench was trying to say is that allegations that are wild and scandalous should be reported with due care and caution. That is all," he said.

On his controversial entry to the Rajya Sabha, the judge writes in his autobiography, that he "did not think twice before accepting," and that he did not imagine that allegations would be raised that the seat "was a quid pro quo for judgments delivered in the Rafale and Ram Janmabhoomi cases." He goes on to say that he accepted the offer because it would give him an opportunity to highlight the problems of the judiciary and his home state Assam.

Rajya Sabha records show that he has less than 10 per cent attendance in parliament.  

"Personally I did not feel very comfortable going there. And the pandemic is on and even today I don't feel very comfortable going to the Rajya Sabha... Though social distancing norms have been enforced, they are not being observed," he said, when asked about his poor attendance record.  

"The point is 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. I am not governed by any party whip. So therefore whenever the bell rings, for party members to come, that doesn't bind me. I go there, at my choice, and I come out at my choice. I am an Independent member of the house," he added.  

Asked about the allegations that the parliament seat was a "reward" for his judgments in cases such as the Rafale and the Ayodhya case, he said the judgments were not just his, and were passed by a Bench.  

Despite a tenure marred with controversies, the judge said he has a clear conscience. "I may have a second term in the Rajya Sabha," he said.