While there was an electoral contest on among parties for over three dozen Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant soon, another member bid farewell to the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Ranjan Gogoi, former Chief Justice of India, completed his six-year term as a nominated member in the Upper House of Parliament on March 16. A farewell message for him was given in the House by Vice President of India and RS chairman CP Radhakrishnan.. Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi speaking in the Rajya Sabha in August 2023. (PTI File Photo/Sansad TV). “As a distinguished jurist, he brought unparalleled legal acumen and experience to the deliberations of the Rajya Sabha. His intervention in the Rajya Sabha reflected his deep understanding of legislative process and public interest. The House will certainly miss his wise counsel, measured intervention, and the gravitas he brought to our discussion,” CP Radhakrishnan said.. Rajya Sabha record showed Gogoi was absent — the attendance register was not signed as of Monday evening, as per the Digital Sansad portal.. His overall attendance in his six-year tenure stood at 53%. The average for all members is 80%.. The Sansad record showed he asked no questions; introduced no private member’s bills, and spoke in one debate.. Gogoi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha just six months after his retirement after serving as the CJI for 13 months, superannuating after an illustrious career involving cases such as the Ayodhya Ram Mandir land dispute.. He became the first ex-CJI to have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha, leading to some questions over propriety. He said his acceptance of the nomination was based on a need for the legislature and the judiciary to “meet at one point of time”.. Also read | ONOP bill does not take away voting rights, says former CJI Ranjan Gogoi. During his tenure in Parliament, major legislations including the later-revoked farm laws, the new criminal codes, laws related to waqf and women’s reservation, were among those debated or passed.. On why he did not speak much in Parliament, he recently told ThePrint: “It is because of the House having witnessed disruptions for one reason or the other. It is only of late that the question hour and the zero hour in the Rajya Sabha is being held in a meaningful manner.” He added that he didn’t ask questions for the sake of it “because I’m not a professional politician who needs to make a mark for a rise in career politics”.. He said he contributed as an MP by “addressing foreign delegations, heads of mission, law enforcing agencies on varied topics starting with the evolution of the constitution, its detailed provisions, its actual working, the role of the judiciary and the legislature under the constitution”.. Up to 2021, the first year or so of his tenure, his attendance was barely around 10%. When asked about it in an NDTV interview at the time, he’d said he had informed the chairperson that “because of Covid (pandemic), on medical advice, I am not attending t
