Gogoi's nomination to Rajya Sabha 'questionable': Amarinder Singh

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday questioned the nomination of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha, saying it “clearly indicated he had been useful to the current government at the Centre.”

Maintaining that Gogoi's nomination has definitely caused "eyebrows to be raised", he said any sensible person would be against such a move by the government.

“It (Gogoi's nomination to Rajya Sabha) clearly indicated that he had been useful to the current government at the Centre,” Singh said in a statement here.

The governments have to realise their responsibility, they cannot use institutions for “political benefit”, as appeared to be the case in Gogoi's nomination, said Singh, during a conclave to mark the completion of three years of his government.

The chief minister drew a distinction between Gogoi's nomination by the BJP-led government less than six months after retirement as chief justice and former CJI Ranganath Mishra's election to the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket after several years of retirement from the same post.

"Unlike Gogoi, Mishra fought an election to win the RS seat, and that too some seven years after he retired as CJI," he said.

Noting that former defence personnel, judges and others often enter politics and contest elections, the CM observed that former Army chief General J J Singh had been pitted against him by the Akalis in the last Punjab assembly polls.

Gogoi was also entitled to get into politics, but he should have faced election after four to five years of retirement, said Singh.

Even though his government had nominated retired judges to various commissions, they had no political or government standing, said the CM, making it clear that he would never agree to doing such a favour to a chief justice as had been apparently done for Gogoi.

President Ram Nath Kovind had on Monday named Gogoi for one of the 12 Rajya Sabha seats to which members are nominated.