Who Is Ranjan Gogoi, The New Chief Justice of India?

Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on 3 October 2018.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on 3 October 2018, has come a long way from Dibrugarh in Assam to reach the top position of judiciary – the first person from the Northeast to do so.

Born on 18 November 1954, Gogoi 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.

Gogoi’s Career Milestones

He was appointed as a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court on 28 February 2001.

On 9 September 2010, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 12 February 2011 and then a judge of the Supreme Court on 23 April 2012.

Part Of the Unprecedented Press Conference

Sixty-three-year-old Gogoi hit the headlines in January by holding a controversial press conference along with three other senior-most judges of the top court and four months later he once again drew everyone's attention with his remark, "independent judges and noisy journalists are democracy's first line of defence".

A "revolution, not reform" is needed to keep the institution of judiciary serviceable for the common man, Gogoi had said.

The Union Law Ministry had written to Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra requesting him to forward the name of the judge who will succeed him upon his retirement. CJI Misra replied with Justice Gogoi’s name on 4 September.

The move came after months of speculation in legal circles over whether Justice Ranjan Gogoi (the next in line according to seniority) could be superseded when current CJI Misra retired on 2 October 2018.

Some Significant Judgments By Gogoi

He has delivered various significant judgments including:

• Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC)
• Setting up of special courts to exclusively try MPs and MLAs
• Appointment of anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal

(With inputs from PTI)