Music Composer Vishal Dadlani, who is known for voicing his opinions, hit out at recently retired Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, terming his legacy as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘cowardly’.
Sharing a scathing article by Gautam Bhatia, Dadlani wrote on Twitter, “Goodbye, ex-CJI Gogoi, and I hope you can stomach the disgraceful and cowardly legacy you have left this august Office. This article by @gautambhatia88 sums it up.”
Goodbye, ex-CJI Gogoi, and I hope you can stomach the disgraceful and cowardly legacy you have left this august Office.
This article by @gautambhatia88 sums it up.https://t.co/02kSxLix16
— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) November 18, 2019
Gogoi, who retired on Sunday, November 17 since his appointment as the CJI on October 3, 2018, leaves a controversial legacy behind, from allegations of sexual misconduct to delivering the controversial verdict on the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Gogoi-led the Supreme Court Bench that awarded the disputed Babri Masjid land destroyed by marauding Hindu fanatics to Hindus despite concluding that there was no evidence of the Babri Mosque being constructed by demolishing a temple. The Bench had also concluded that there was enough evidence of Muslim prayers being held at the Babri Mosque until Hindu extremists demolished the 16th-century mosque on 6 December 1992. The Bench had also gone on to declare the demolition of the Babri Mosque an illegal act.
Gogoi, who famously held a press conference against his predecessor Justice Dipak Misra, accusing him of putting democracy in peril, courted more controversies than him.
An ex-SC staffer levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Gogoi. But instead of constituting a sexual harassment committee, he constituted a special bench of the Court comprising three judges which he himself presided over ignoring the fundamental jurisprudential principle, that no one can be a judge in his own cause.
The panel eventually exonerating the chief justice of any misconduct, rubbishing the allegations as some larger conspiracy to destabilise the office of the Chief Justice of India.
In the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 and a brutal and repressive lockdown in Kashmir, a number of habeas corpus petitions concerning the personal liberty of citizens were filed. Gogoi was accused of willfully ignoring the petitions.