Activist Saket Gokhale Seeks AG Venugopal’s Consent to Initiate a Contempt Case Against Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi

RTI activist Saket Gokhale has written to Attorney General K.K. Venugopal seeking his sanction to initiate contempt of court proceedings against former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi for insulting, scandalizing and attempting to lower the dignity of the Supreme Court.

Gokhale said, that during an event organised by the India Today Group on February 12, 2021, a contemptuous statement was made on the judiciary system by Gogoi, a Rajya Sabha MP

Further, Gokhale submitted that the remarks made by the former CJI, who is now an MP constitute a gross contempt of court and undermine the status of the Supreme Court, especially considering that they come from someone who sat on the highest seat of the judiciary but not a layperson.

The remarks which were made by the Gogoi were, “You want a 5 trillion dollar economy but you have a ram shackled judiciary”, “If you were to go to the court, you would be only washing your dirty linen in the court, you won’t get a verdict I have no hesitation in saying it”, “Only corporations willing to take chances with their millions of rupees go to Supreme Court”, “What is your opinion of the judiciary? Not very positive”, “the judicial system has not worked for more reason than one”, “Unfortunately, there are many judges who are succumbing to criticism made in media”.

Also, Gokhale added that many more comments were made by Gogoi and a full video recording of which can be found on YouTube. 

Further, Gokhale stressed on Gogoi’s comment, saying that it carries far more weight and results in a major scandalization of the judiciary as compared to when they are made by laypersons.

Gokhale while citing contempt cases of comedian Kunal Kamra and artist Rachita Taneja, said that, the prosecution consent granted by your office to these contempt cases has established a benchmark of what constitutes a contempt of court in your opinion. Former CJI’s comments were far more contemptuous in their degree and seriousness in scandalizing the Supreme Court in comparison to the innocent tweets made by the other two individuals, Ghokale claimed.