Kapil Sibal evokes Ranjan Gogoi's Parliament remark in Supreme Court, CJI says...
During a hearing in Supreme Court, senior advocate Kapil Sibal evoked remarks by former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Here's what CJI DY Chandrachud said in response.
In the ongoing hearing before the Supreme Court on the batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, senior advocate Kapil Sibal invoked former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi's speech in Parliament which questioned the basis structure doctrine, adding a layer of complexity to the discussions.
The former chief justice's statement in Parliament was made on Monday during the discussion in Rajya Sabha in his maiden speech to support the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023. The bill aims to curtail the powers of the elected government of Delhi over services.
Ranjan Gogoi, in his speech, stated, "Does it violate the basic features of the Constitution? There is a book by (Tehmtan) Andhyarujina, the former Solicitor General of India, on the Kesavananda Bharati (1973) case. Having read the book, my view is that the doctrine of the basic structure of the Constitution has a debatable, a very debatable jurisprudential basis."
The Basic Structure doctrine mandates the court to review and limit Parliament's power to amend the Constitution's foundational principles.
During the hearing before the five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Sibal emphasised, "In the guise of majority, you cannot take from us what our forefathers gave."
He went on to remark, "Now one of your esteemed colleagues has said that, in fact, the basic structure theory is also doubtful."
Responding to Sibal's comment, the Chief Justice stated, "Mr. Sibal, when you refer to a colleague, you have to refer to a sitting colleague. Once we cease to be judges, whatever we say, they are opinions, they are not binding."
In response, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta asserted that the proceedings in the Parliament should not be debated within the court. He stated, "Parliament doesn't discuss what goes on in the courts."
Mehta further added, "Mr. Sibal is addressing this here since he wasn't there in Parliament yesterday. You should have responded in Parliament."
Ranjan Gogoi was nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha in March 2020 after his retirement as Chief Justice of India in November 2019. During his maiden speech, Gogoi said that the basic structure doctrine has a "doubtful jurisprudence".
