Bitter Truths In Sealed Cover

Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi assumed office with a messianic aura but left behind a legacy scorched by controversies

- Puneet Nicholas Yadav

On November 15, journalists cov­ering the Supreme Court rec­eived an unusual note from the office of Ranjan Gogoi, the 46th Chief Justice of India, who was to demit office two days later. The note explained why the CJI could not grant journalists their request for one­to­one interviews. “Bitter truths must remain in memory,” the CJI said. Public memory, as the cliché goes, is short. However, it isn’t altogether abs­ ent. Gogoi’s ruse of keeping bitter truths about the Supreme Court—or are they more specific to his term as CJI?—confined to his memory seems ironic, if not altogether preposterous. The contradiction in such posturing is even starker given his participation in an unprecedented press conference in January 2018 when he, along with then SC judges, justices J. Chelameswar, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph, launched a scathing broadside against then CJI Dipak Misra.

On October 3 last year, when he was sworn in as the CJI, the cautious euphoria among those who had hailed him for his commitment towards constitutional morality and institutional integrity was expected. And, in the initial weeks, he did not disappoint. Within days of assuming office, Gogoi had shown a strong commitment for administrative reforms to help reduce the huge pendency of cases. But then began the tailspin. Hopes that the opaque decision-making process of the SC collegium—the five seniormost SC judges who recommend names for appointments and elevations of judges— would become more transparent under Gogoi quickly dissipated. The collegium’s recommendation to elevate justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjeev Khanna to the SC after rescinding an earlier decision to elevate Rajasthan high court chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Rajendra Menon continued the trend of opacity in judicial appointments.