The appointment of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind has not gone down well with several opposition parties, including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and AIMIM, withmany claiming that Gogoi's nomination to Upper House of Parliament was quid proquo. Former Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah said, "What is the message that President is trying to convey to the people of India &future CJIs?"

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised the move,adding that it will have repurcussions of the move on independence of the judiciary.

AAP MLA Raghav Chadha also raised question over Gogoi's appointment and said that it will set a bad precedent and cause huge loss to the independence of judiciary.

"This will not merely set a bad precedent but will cause irreparable damage to the indepence of judiciary. Separation of powers btw the legislature, executive & judiciary is part of the basic structure of our Constitution - which this Govt has systematically dismantled &damaged," he tweeted.

Gogoi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Kovind on Monday (March 16). The notification said, "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 80 of the Constitution ofIndia, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased tonominate Shri Ranjan Gogoi to the Council of States to fill the vacancy causeddue to the retirement of one of the nominated member." Ranjan Gogoi, whoretired on November 17, 2019, served as the 46th Chief Justice of India fromOctober 3, 2018, to November 17, 2019.

Gogoi delivered several historic decisions during histenure, including key verdicts in highly-sensitive disputes like the AyodhyaRam Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid title dispute case, the 'Entry of women toSabarimala Temple' row, and the Rafale deal controversy, and the Assam NRCdispute.

Heading a five-judge Constitution bench, Ranjan Gogoi, whowas then Chief Justice of India (CJI), had delivered the historic verdict onthe decades-old Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit (Ayodhya case).

The Supreme Court had unanimously handed over the disputedsite at Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram Temple, and set up a trust for thepurpose, besides giving five acres of land to the Sunni Waqf Board in thetemple town.

Gogoi, who had succeeded 45th CJI Dipak Misra, was succeededby current CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde on November 17, 2019.