Delhi Ordinance Bill / What did Ranjan Gogoi say in his first speech in the Rajya Sabha, on which there was a controversy

Delhi Ordinance Bill: After a long debate, the Delhi Service Bill has been passed by the Rajya Sabha and the INDIA coalition could not pass its first test in the House. When voting took place in the Rajya Sabha, 131 votes were cast in favor of the bill and 102 in opposition. During the discussion in the Upper House, many MPs spoke, including former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who spoke in favor of the bill and there is a lot of ruckus on it. During his speech, what did Ranjan Gogoi say about the constitution, about the bill and what is the issue being disputed, know…

Shocking that a former CJI questions the jurisprudence of the basic structure of the Constitution.

Is this the BJP's trick to begin the full-fledged dismantling of the Constitution of India? Does it think that democracy, equality, secularism, federalism, judicial independence… pic.twitter.com/H2cM6bcWFK

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 7, 2023

What did Ranjan Gogoi say on Delhi Bill?

Ranjan Gogoi supported the bill and said that the opposition which is questioning its constitutionality is completely baseless and this bill is absolutely correct. This was the first speech of Rajya Sabha member Ranjan Gogoi in the House, he said that for me this bill is completely correct, this matter is not under consideration because the matter which is pending in the court is of the validity of the ordinance, which is not related to the discussion of the House. Nothing to do with it.

Former Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the Parliament has the right to make laws for all other Union Territories including Delhi, so it is absolutely wrong to say that the Central Government is encroaching by bringing this bill. The part of MP Ranjan Gogoi's speech which has created ruckus is the question regarding the basic structure of the Constitution, after which other opposition parties including Congress have also raised questions on Ranjan Gogoi.

What comment did you make about the constitution?

Ranjan Gogoi asked if this bill violates the basic structure of the constitution, there is a book written by TR Adhyarujina in which Kesavananda Bharti case is talked about. After reading the book, I can say that the basic structure of the constitution is also debatable, on which one can express his views. The basic structure of the constitution gives the court the power to review the constitutional amendment being made by the parliament.

Congress raised questions

There has been a controversy over this speech of the former Justice, KC Venugopal of Congress has raised questions on him. KC Venugopal tweeted that it is surprising that the former Chief Justice is raising questions on the jurisprudence of the basic structure of the Constitution. Is this a trick of BJP which is completely towards changing the constitution. Does it mean that other main points including democracy, equality, secularism are also debatable. Congress leader asked what is the logic of Ranjan Gogoi? Is he saying that there is no such thing as a basic structure which should be preserved?

The Indian Express has claimed in its news that Ranjan Gogoi, as a Member of Parliament, has said about the Constitution and has described the jurisprudence of the structure as debatable, as a judge, he has given many of his decisions while remaining firm on the same basic structure. In this, the Law Reorganization Tribunal, the petition related to the Chief Justice's office and the Ayodhya verdict given in 2019 have been mentioned.

If we talk about the bill related to Delhi, then Union Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced the bill first in the Lok Sabha and then in the Rajya Sabha. This bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and after that it has now been passed in the Rajya Sabha as well. The Delhi government was continuously opposing this bill and Arvind Kejriwal has attacked the Center even after the bill was passed and termed it unconstitutional.