New Delhi
President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India, law ministry notification confirmed on Thursday. Taking the baton from CJI Dipak Misra, Justice Gogoi will assume office on October 3, 2018, as the 46th CJI. His tenure will end in November 2019.
CJI Misra on September 4 had recommended Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the senior most judge present in the Supreme Court, as his successor. The recommendation was processed to President Kovind to issue the warrant of appointment, which was confirmed on Thursday.
Earlier, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar had said that government’s intention on the appointment of the next CJI should not be questioned and that the executive would take a call.
Speculation over Justice Gogoi’s appointment as the next CJI arose after the court’s four most senior judges, including Justice Gogoi, called a press conference in January this year and criticised Justice Misra on various issues, especially the manner of allocation of cases to certain benches.
Justices J Chelameswar (since retired), Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph were among those who addressed the press conference, perhaps a first in the history of the Indian judiciary.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, “appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office”.
Who is Justice Ranjan Gogoi?
Born on November 18, 1954, Justice Gogoi was enrolled as an advocate in 1978. He practised in the Gauhati High Court on constitutional, taxation and company matters and 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. He was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on April 23, 2012
