Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court, was on 3rd October, 2018 sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India.

The Ayodhya land dispute case related to Babri Masjid and Ram Temple, the appointment of Lokpal, and the implementation of the National Register for Citizens would be some of the major challenges before the new CJI.

Justice Gogoi, who is from Assam, would be the first CJI from the Northeast. His term will last till November 18, 2019. Justice Gogoi will have a tenure of a little over 13 months.

Education:

An alumnus of Delhi University’s prestigious St Stephen’s College, where he studied history, Justice Gogoi is the son of former Assam chief minister Keshab Chandra Gogoi.

Before enrolling into a school, Ranjan and his brother Anjan did a toss to determine who goes to Sainik School. Anjan won the toss and went to Sainik School while Ranjan went to Don Bosco School.

His brother in an interview revealed that Ranjan cleared the UPSC exam but didn’t see his future in it and told his father that he wanted to study law.

Assets:

Justice Gogoi has no outstanding loan, mortgage, overdraft, unpaid bill or any other liability. Justice Misra had taken Rs 22.5 lakh loan from a bank to purchase a flat in the advocates’ cooperative society in Mayur Vihar, Delhi, which he is repaying. The CJI has another house in Cuttack, which was constructed more than a decade before he become an HC judge. Both of them had declared these assets in 2012.

Bank balance, including LIC policy, for Justice Gogoi and his spouse totals a meagre Rs 30 lakh. He declared in July that a plot of land at Beltola in Guwahati purchased by him in 1999, before becoming a judge in Gauhati HC, was sold for Rs 65 lakh in June (he declared the name of the purchaser too). He also said his mother had transferred in his and his spouse’s name a plot of land in Japorigog village near Guwahati in June 2015.Justice Gogoi does not own a single piece of gold jewellery while the only jewellery his wife owns is what she got from her parents, relatives and friends at the time of her marriage. CJI Misra has two gold rings, which he wears, and a gold chain. His wife has a little more jewellery than Justice Gogoi’s spouse.

Journey to Chief Justice of India:

He got enrolled as an advocate in 1978 in the Gauhati High Court, where he practised on constitutional, taxation and company matters before being appointed as a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001.

On 9th September, 2010 Gogoi was transferred to Punjab & Haryana High Court. He later took charge as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 12th February, 2011.

Ranjan Gogoi was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in April 2012

He was one of the four Supreme Court judges who held a press conference in January 2018, raising concerns about the administration of the apex court and the independence of the judiciary.

In a letter to the Centre, Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra recommended Justice Ranjan Gogoi as his successor following his exit from office on 2nd October 2018.

Some Important judgments by his bench:

• A bench led by Justice Gogoi also handled the case of JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar. He dismissed the petition seeking a probe on the incidents of attack on Kanhaiya.
• He with the bench passed the judgement that introduced new electoral reforms by ruling that no one can contest elections without making a full and honest disclosure about his/her assets, educational, and criminal antecedents.
• He is also known for his famous judgment forbidding the use of politicians’ photos in government advertisements. In May 2015, The Supreme Court had held that government advertisements could only include photographs of the Prime Minister, President and Chief Justice of India, thus ensuring politicians in power do not use taxpayers’ money to gain political advantages.
• Justice Gogoi is also heading a bench looking over the progress in the appointment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas.
• He was also hearing Central Bureau of Investigation’s appeal against the acquittal of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the sensational Arushi Talwar murder case.
• He with his bench received a lot of criticism on the judgement of Soumya Rape and Murder Case. He and his bench acquitted the culprit on murder charges but released the sentence of Death awarded by the trial court.
• On August 20, 2014, a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and RK Agrawal gave the Centre and the Assam government three years to complete the entire process to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which helps to identify the illegal migrants from the state.