Justice Ranjan Gogoi takes oath as 46th Chief Justice of India

Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Justice of India after Justice Dipak Misra's retirement on Monday. Justice Gogoi was sworn in as the 46th CJI by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan around 10:40 am. 

President Kovind administered the oath to the 63-year-old Justice Gogoi at a brief ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan's Darbar Hall. Justice Gogoi will have a tenure of a little over 13 months and would retire on November 17, 2019. 

He succeeds Justice Dipak Misra who retired Tuesday on attaining the age of 65 years.

Several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his predecessor Manmohan Singh, former premier HD Deve Gowda and Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge were present at the ceremony.

Trinamool Congress leaders Sudip Bandhpadhyay and Derek O'Brien were among the opposition leaders present at the event.

Justice Gogoi's predecessor Dipak Misra was seen shaking hands with dignitaries before the ceremony began. Former CJIs, including TS Thakur and JS Khehar, were also present.

Justice Gogoi, the first person from the Northeast to reach the top position in the judiciary, was appointed the Chief Justice of India on September 13.

Justice Misra had earlier this month recommended Justice Gogoi as his successor in accordance with the established practice of naming the senior-most judge after the CJI for the post.

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 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 the others 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".

It stipulates that the law minister will, at an appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing CJI for the appointment of a successor.

Under this process, after receiving the CJI's recommendation, the law minister puts it before the prime minister who advises the president on the matter.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently said the government's intention on the appointment of the next chief justice of India should not be questioned. He had also said the executive will take a call when the incumbent names the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as his successor as per convention.

Prasad was responding to a question at the Law Ministry's annual press conference on whether the government will follow laid-down conventions and procedures to appoint Justice Gogoi as Justice Misra's successor.

"The question is imaginary...as far as the appointment of the chief justice of India is concerned, the convention is clear...the sitting chief justice names the senior-most judge (of the top court) as his successor. When the name comes to us, we will discuss it," he had said. 

Who is Justice Gogoi?

Justice Gogoi hails from Dibrugarh in Assam and was born on November 18, 1954. He did his schooling in Don Bosco School Dibrugarh before studying history in Delhi University's St Stephen's College.

Son of former Assam chief minister Keshab Chandra Gogoi, he was enrolled as an advocate in 1978. He practised in the Gauhati High Court on constitutional, taxation and company matters.

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 and Haryana High Court. He was appointed the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 12, 2011 and then a judge of the Supreme Court on April 23, 2012.

Justice Gogoi has delivered various significant judgements, 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 remission of their life sentences and appointment of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal among others. 

He was one of the four senior Supreme Court judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- who virtually revolted against CJI Misra over "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders in January this year.

The four senior Supreme Court judges had called a press conference in New Delhi in the second week of January and said the situation in the top court was "not in order" and that many "less than desirable" things had taken place.

At the unprecedented press conference, Justice Gogoi had hinted that the allocation of a case seeking an investigation in the death of special CBI judge BH Loya to a junior judge led to the ‘revolt’.

(With PTI inputs)