The vacancy was created due to the retirement of K.T.S. Tulsi at the end of February

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday nominated former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, President is pleased to nominate Shri Ranjan Gogoi to Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members,” the Home Ministry said in its notification.

The vacancy was created due to the retirement of K.T.S. Tulsi at the end of February.

Justice Gogoi, who retired in November, headed the five-judge Bench that delivered the verdict in the sensitive Ayodhya land title dispute on November 9.

Soon after the unanimous verdict was delivered, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lauded the judiciary for bringing an end to the decades-old Ayodhya land title dispute.

Justice Gogoi, who had a tenure of a little more than 13 months after being sworn in on October 3, 2018, also headed a bench that had held that the office of the CJI was a public authority and came under the purview of the Right to Information Act.

Justice Gogoi also headed the benches that heard matters like a review of the apex court’s verdict allowing the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple and the Rafale fighter jet deal. While the court gave a clean chit to the government in the Rafale case, in the Sabarimala review the bench referred the larger question of religious freedom to a nine-judge bench.

“The picture says it all,” tweeted Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala that had two screenshots, one of Justice Gogoi’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha and another news headline that said “India’s Judiciary is Facing an Increasing Lack of Trust by Public”.