Former chief justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday at 11 am.
Gogoi took oath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday nominated Ranjan Gogoi, who served as the 46th CJI from October 3, 2018, to November 17, 2019, to the Rajya Sabha.
The ex-CJI has been allotted seat number 131 in the House.
Members of Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) opposed Gogoi’s appointment and walked out of the Rajya Sabha, Hindustan Times reported.
The Communist Party of India, DMK and MDMK also joined the protest.
Several members of the Congress shouted ‘shame’ and ‘deal’ as the former CJI took oath.
Justice Gogoi’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha has not gone down well with retired Supreme Court judges like justices Madan Lokur, AK Patnaik and Kurian Joseph who have spoken out against it. But Gogoi has defended his nomination, saying that he accepted the offer because of his conviction that the legislature and judiciary must 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”, he said.
He added he had given the nomination a considerable thought before agreeing to take accept it.
Gogoi is the first former CJI to become a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.
Activist Madhu Kishwar has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against Gogoi’s nomination.
Kishwar says that the nomination gives it the colour of a political appointment and casts a shadow of doubt on the credibility of the judgments delivered by the Supreme Court under Gogoi.