Assam: Defamation Case Filed Against Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Publisher

Assam Public Works president Aabhijeet Sharma filed the defamation case against Gogoi and Rupa Publications, the publisher of his autobiography 'Justice for the Judge'.

The president of Assam Public Works (APW) Aabhijeet Sharma on Thursday filed a Rs 1 crore defamation case against former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi over alleged misleading and defamatory statements made against him in the Rajya Sabha MP's autobiography "Justice for the Judge". Sharma filed the defamation case against Gogoi and Rupa Publications, the publisher of his autobiography.

Sharma has also filed a petition seeking an injunction restraining Gogoi and the publisher from further publishing, distributing or selling any book that has defamatory statements and imputations against him. 

The APW is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) whose petition in the Supreme Court led to the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

In his petition, the APW chief said, "Ranjan Gogoi on page 173 in his autobiography 'Justice for the Judge' wrote 'at the local level, personal attack on the state coordinator of National Register of Citizens (SCNR) Prateek Hajela and veiled attacks on the judges, particularly me, by local politicians and specifically by Aabhijeet Sharma, the President of Assam Public Works (petitioner in W.P(C) No.274 of 2009) left us (the bench) convinced that orders should be passed to protect Hajela from undue harassment and calculated harm'."

"The bench passed the order dated October 18, 2019, for his (Hajela) deputation on inter-cadre transfer to Madhya Pradesh, his home state. Subsequent events like filing of FIRs against Hajela and other NRC officials, allegations of corruption and threats to order Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe besides enormous misinformation to the media and wide publicity thereof leave me convinced that the bench was thoroughly justified in passing the rather unusual order for the inter-cadre transfer of Hajela by invoking Article 142 of the Constitution," Sharma quoted the book in his petition as saying. 

The APW chief has filed the suit in the court of Kamrup (Metropolitan), Assam.

The court said that after going through the petition and documents, it was found that there is "substantial question both of law and facts to be adjudicated". The court directed issuing of summons to both the petitioner and the defendants and posted the next date of hearing for June 3.

Sharma claimed that the imputations against him in the book were "inherently false and malicious" and have been made with "clear intention to defame" him.

Sharma said that there was not an iota of proof against him to substantiate the "inherently false, baseless and malafide" allegations made against him in the book.

He further claimed that the allegations made by former CJI Gogoi against him in his autobiography had maligned the sound reputation enjoyed by him and had irreparably tarnished his image in the eyes of the general public, viewers, friends, family and colleagues besides senior officers of the department.

Sharma also said the statement by the Rajya Sabha MP in his book had caused deep mental agony and anguish and has lowered his reputation and dignity amongst "high-thinking members of the society".  

Ranjan Gogoi served as the 46th CJI from 2018 to 2019. During his tenure, he delivered several important judgments, including the Ayodhya dispute and the Rafale deal, before retiring in 2019.

In 2020, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and has served on the committee on communications and information technology and the committee on external affairs.