Justice Ranjan Gogoi Appointed Next Chief Justice of India, to Take Charge on October 3

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India. He will assume office on October 3 after the retirement of current CJI Dipak Misra.

News18 was the first to report about Justice Misra having endorsed the name of the senior-most judge Justice Gogoi for the post on September 1, putting to rest all speculations around the next CJI. According to the convention, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court is appointed by the CJI, and Justice Gogoi by virtue of his seniority, was next in line.

The speculation had been caused as Justice Ranjan Gogoi was one of the four Supreme Court judges who held the unprecedented press conference in January this year, raising concerns about the

administration of the apex court and the independence of judiciary.

The 63-year-old is from Assam and he was appointed a judge in the Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001. He later became the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 12, 2011. He was elevated to the top court in April 2012 and is slated to retire on November 17, 2019.

Before becoming a judge, he practiced in Gauhati High Court on constitutional, taxation and company matters.

In the top apex court, he has headed the special bench that is monitoring the updation of National Register of Citizens to identify citizens and weed out illegally settled foreigners. He has been part of a body of important judgments and orders in the top court.

His bench has been taking stock of the progress being made to appoint the Lokpal and Lokayuktas. In one of his rulings, Justice Gogoi put curbs on public advertisements for glorifying politicians and laid down new norms.

In Justice Karnan's contempt case, Justice Gogoi, along with Justice (since retired) J Chelameswar, had highlighted the necessity of revisiting the existing system of appointing changes and bringing in necessary reforms to keep the public confidence intact in the judiciary.

Justice Gogoi, in another verdict, had also implored upon the government to redefine parameters of determining backwardness so that those really underprivileged and economically poor get the benefits.