CJI Ranjan Gogoi refuses to recuse himself from Assam detention centre case
ডিটেনশন সেন্টার মামলা থেকে নিজেকে সরাচ্ছেন না, জানিয়ে দিলেন গগৈ

May 2: While hearing a plea filed by human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander seeking the recusal of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi from hearing a case on the plight of foreigners in detention centres in Assam’s detention camps, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to recuse Gogoi from this case. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Court for the record that the government does not support the application for recusal.

The word ‘recusal’ means the withdrawal of a judge, prosecutor, or juror from a case on the grounds that they are unqualified to perform legal duties because of a possible conflict of interest or lack of impartiality. “We will not allow anyone to disrupt the institution,” CJI Gogoi said while refusing to recuse himself from hearing the case. Ranjan Gogoi further said, “The opinion of the judge is reflected in the court’s order. The main prayer is still pending before this court. How can you form an opinion that this court has decided on the issue? Is this fair?.” Gogoi asked him to learn to trust the judges. “The day you don’t trust your judges, you have had it,” he added.

As per a report by Live Law, rejecting a petition filed by rights activist and retired bureaucrat Harsh Mander seeking recusal of Chief Justice Gogoi from hearing the case, the Supreme Court bench removed the name of the petitioner from the records and appointed Legal Services authority as the petitioner in the case. The court appointed Prashant Bhushan as amicus curiae in the case. The bench also removed Mander’s name from the records and appointed Legal Services authority as the petitioner in the case.

It needs mention here that Harsh Mander had filed the petition in 2018 through advocate Prashant Bhushan. In the petition, Mander had highlighted the conditions of the inmates residing in the detention centres and claimed that inmates were being held beyond their sentences. Mander said that the comments and oral observations made by the CJI during a previous hearing have raised serious apprehension of the possibility of bias while deciding the case.