Why aren't activist judges questioned? Ex-CJI Gogoi

New Delhi: Under attack for accepting the Rajya Sabha membership, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday hit out at what he coined "activist judges" who start raising questions on judiciary immediately after their retirement but keep quiet while in office.

"Who are these activist judges working with? Who is giving platforms to them for saying all this? There are no questions asked," said Justice Gogoi.

He also emphasised that there is another category of judges, who get friendly with lawyers during their work, and one would notice commercial arbitration works flowing to a select few judges after their retirement.

"How and why do arbitration works flow to only some judges and not to others? Again, no questions asked," said the former Chief Justice of India.

Justice Gogoi made these statements at a webinar organised by the Confederation of Alumni for National Law Universities.

According to him, there were in fact three categories of post-retirement assignments of a judge, which included "activist judges", those taking up commercial arbitrations and the third, accepting other kinds of assignments.

"Why only it is the third category that draws all the flak? Why are no questions asked about the other two?" asked Justice Gogoi.