Chief Justice of India TS Thakur has agreed to “look into” the recent controversy surrounding recusal of Justice Ranjan Gogoi in a particular case..As first reported by Legally India, Justice Gogoi had passed an order directing the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Delhi to look into the conduct of an advocate who had asked Justice Gogoi to recuse from hearing a matter..The advocate, Mrinal Kanti Mandal, had based his submission on the ground that Justice Gogoi had met the members of the management of the company which was the Respondent in the case when the judge was on a family tour to Udaipur. The Court had passed the following order on February 18:.“Shri Mandal persisted to his attempts to mention and with reference to certain photographs pointed out that this Bench should not hear the matter. We have perused the photographs wherein one member of this Bench (Ranjan Gogoi, J.) along with his family had visited City Palace Museum, Udaipur which is a center of tourist attraction..We do not see why the learned counsel should have pointed the said fact inasmuch as upon reading of the case record when the matter would have been called out in the normal course the learned judge, if he feels any incapacity or inconvenience to deal with the matter would have recused himself..The submission made by the learned counsel proceeds on certain presumptions that the learned judge who visited City Palace Museum, Udaipur was aware or made aware subsequently of the pending litigation; that the litigation is pending in his Court; and that the learned judge had been spoken to by the opposite party (the respondents).”.The Court then proceeded to refer the matter to the BCI and the Bar Council of Delhi for appropriate action against Mandal..Mandal’s lawyer had mentioned the order twice before Justice Gogoi, who had refused to hear it, saying he will wait for the decisions of the BCI and the BCD..This had prompted the lawyer to mention the matter today before Chief Justice Thakur, who said that the court would look into it..Image taken from here.
