SC judges against CJI: Know the four judges

Justice Jasti Chelameswar

Justice Jasti Chelameswar is the second-most senior judge in the Supreme Court. A student of physics at Loyola College in Chennai, Justice Chelameswar switched to law at Andhra University in Vishakapatnam. Chelameswar was designated as a Senior Advocate in 1995 and two years later was appointed as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Justice Chelameswar has served as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, followed by a stint at the Kerala High Court. On October 11, Chelamsewar was elevated to the Supreme Court. However, Justice Chelameswar was sworn in after the current Chief Justice Dipak Misra, despite being senior; thereby, robbing him of the chance to become the Chief Justice.

In 2015, Justice Chelameswar wrote a dissenting opinion where he ruled in favour of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) arguing that the collegium system had become a "euphemism for nepotism. "

Justice Chelameswar was also part of the nine-judge bench that delivered the historic verdict declaring privacy as a fundamental right. The judge who is set to retire in June will deliver his judgment in a case seeking amendments to the Representation of People's act filed by NGO Lok Prahari.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi

Justice Gogoi, though currently the third senior-most judge, is slated to succeed CJI Misra as the top judge in October. The son of former Assam Chief Minister Rakhtim Gogoi, Justice Gogoi will be the first judge from the northeast to become the Chief Justice of India before he retires in November 2019.

Gogoi was a permanent judge at the Gauhati High Court in 2001 before he became the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court. In 2012, he was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2012.

In 2016, Justice Gogoi famously issued a notice of contempt to Justice Markandey Katju, a retired apex court judge for criticising his proceedings on a blog.

Justice Gogoi is spearheading the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) and ensuring that access to justice has been rendered to the marginalised sections of the society. Since 2014, he is also part of the bench that is monitoring the exercise of NRC upgradation and fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border. NRC is meant to identify original residents of Assam to check illegal migration — primarily from Bangladesh.

Justice Madan Lokur

An alumnus of Modern School, Delhi, Justice Lokur also studied at St Joseph's in Allahabad. Justice Lokur then took up history at Delhi's St Stephen's College and later on enrolled in a law court at the Faculty of Law in Delhi University.

Lokur's law practise was largely centred in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court. In 1997, he was designated as a Senior Advocate and a year later he was appointed as an Additional Solicitor General (ASG).

Justice Lokur was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in 1999 and later on served as its Acting Chief Justice as well. Justice Lokur also had brief stints at Gauhati High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court as a Chief Justice, before he became a Supreme Court judge in 2012.

Justice Lokur is part of the social justice bench and has passed orders banning fireworks in the National Capital Region in order to control air pollution. Under Justice Lokur's ministrations, the Supreme Court went paperless and has been digitized. He is due to retire in December 2018.

Justice Kurian Joseph

An alumnus of Kerala Law Academy Law College, Justice Kurian Joseph enrolled as an advocate in 1979. Justice Joseph has been a member of the Academic Council in Kerala University (1977 - 1978), the General Secretary of Kerala University Union (1978), Senate member of Cochin University (1983 - 1985), Chairman of Kerala High Court Legal Services Committee (2006 to 2009) and Chairman of Lakshadweep Legal Services Authority (2008).

In 2000, Justice Joseph was appointed as a judge in the Kerala High Court and later became its Acting Chief Justice -- twice. In 2010, Justice Joseph joined the Himachal Pradesh High Court as its Chief Justice and came to the top court in 2013.

Justice Joseph was part of the bench, leading the majority 3:2, that struck down instant triple talaq. Justice Joseph wrote a separate judgment where he observed Talaq-e-bidat was against the tenets of Islam. Currently, Justice Joseph is on a crusade to rid the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from any political and bureaucratic interference.