Appointed as the next Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the first person from the Northeast to claim a top position at the judiciary. President Ram Nath Kovind Thursday appointed Justice Gogoi as the 46th CJI and is set to assume office on October 3. His tenure will end next year in November.
Born on November 18, 1954, Justice Gogoi completed his primary education from Don Bosco School Dibrugarh before pursuing history from Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College.
Son of former Assam Chief Minister Keshab Chandra Gogoi, Justice Gogoi was enrolled as an advocate in 1978. He practised in the Gauhati High Court on constitutional, taxation and company matters before he was appointed as a Permanent Judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001.
On September 9, 2010, he was transferred to the Punjab & Haryana High Court and was elevated as the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court on February 12, 2011. A year later, he was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on April 23, 2012.
Earlier this year, Supreme Court’s four topmost judges, in an unprecedented move, called on a press conference to address issues relating to the allocation of cases in the top court, which included Justice Gogoi, Justices J Chelameswar (since retired), Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
In his tenure as a senior judge of the apex court, Justice Gogoi delivered significant judgments including Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC), setting up of special courts to exclusively try MPs and MLAs, Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts for the remission of their life sentences and appointment of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal among others.
