Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
A notification to this effect was issued by the Indian Central Government on Monday.
The notification states, "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Ranjan Gogoi to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated member."
Ranjan Gogoi retired from the Supreme Court on November 17, 2019 just a week after ruling in favor of a Hindu temple on the disputed land of Ayodhya and ordered that alternative land be given to Muslims to build a mosque.
The Indian judiciary under him had delivered verdicts in many key cases including the Rafale cse, the dismissal of Central Bureau of Investigation director Alok Verma, and others that seemed to favor the Narendra Modi government.
The 16th-century Babri Masjid mosque in northern Indian town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state was destroyed by Hindu hard-liners led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December 1992, sparking massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left 2,000 people dead.
Five Supreme Court justices in a unanimous judgment on November 9, 2019 said that 5 acres (2.02 hectares) of land will be allotted to the Muslim community at a prominent place for building a mosque. The disputed land will be given to a board of trustees for the construction of a temple for Hindu god Ram.
Hindu hard-liners say they want to build a new temple to god Ram on the site, which they revere as his birthplace. They say the mosque was built after a temple dedicated to the Hindu god was destroyed by Muslim invaders.
After the demolition of the mosque, Hindus and Muslims took the issue to a lower court, which in 2010 ruled that the disputed land should be divided into three parts — two for Hindus and one for Muslims.
That was challenged in the Supreme Court by both communities.
The five judges started daily proceedings in August after mediation failed to find a compromise.
Modi had promised to build the temple in 2014 elections that brought him to power. But he later decided to wait for the court verdict despite pressure from millions of Hindu hard-liners who asked his government to bring legislation to build the temple.
The Gogoi led SC ruled in favor of Hindus just a few months after Modi won the second term in 2019.
