Chief Justice Dipak Misra Recommends Justice Ranjan Gogoi As His Successor
Justice Ranjan Gogoi will be administered the oath of office on Oct. 3 after CJI Dipak Misra demits office on Oct. 2.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, in a letter to the government, recommended Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s name as his successor.
If the recommendation is cleared by the central government, Justice Gogoi will be administered the oath of office on Oct. 3 after CJI Misra demits office on Oct. 2, newswire PTI reported.
Justice Gogoi—the first judge from the northeast to be appointed to the post—will serve as the CJI for until Nov. 17, 2019. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde is likely to succeed him.
Speculation surrounding Justice Gogoi’s appointment as the next Chief Justice of India emerged following the unprecedented press conference of four senior-most judges in January this year. Justice Gogoi had said his actions were a “discharge of debt to the nation”. A debate begun after Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government has no role in the selection of Justice Misra’s successor.
In July this year, Justice Gogoi once again highlighted the need for independence of the top court. Delivering the Ramnath Goenka Lecture, he said, “The top court to preserve its moral and institutional leverage, must remain uncontaminated. And independent. And fierce.’’
Born in Assam in 1954, he joined the bar in 1978 practising in Guwahati High Court. His father, Keshabh Chandra Gogoi, was the former Chief Minister of Assam. After nearly two decades of practising as an advocate, Justice Gogoi was appointed as a permanent judge of the Guwahati High Court in 2001. After serving as a judge and later as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court for two years, he was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2012. Justice Gogoi is the seniormost judge in the top court after CJI Misra.
As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Gogoi was part of the bench that commuted the death sentence of a convict in the Soumya rape and murder case to seven-year imprisonment. The hearing of the review petition also led to contempt proceedings being initiated against Retired Justice Markandey Katju, a first in the country’s judicial history.
Justice Katju had written a blog on the case. The bench headed by Justice Gogoi had said Justice Katju’s statement in the blog constituted a serious assault on judges and not on the judgement and therefore the notice of contempt to him, according to a report by PTI.
Justice Gogoi was also part of the seven-judge bench, which heard the contempt proceedings against Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan—the first in the judicial history against a sitting judge—and sent him to six months imprisonment. In the judgement, Justice Gogoi joined Justice Chelameswar to highlight the need to revisit the appointment process of judges.