NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India. He will take office on October 3.
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. As the 46th Chief Justice of India, Justice Gogoi will have a tenure of about 13 months, till November 17, 2019.
President Kovind signed warrants of appointment of Justice Gogoi following which a notification announcing his appointment was issued.
Known as a soft-spoken but tough, Justice Gogoi was among the four senior-most Supreme Court judges who had in January 2018 held a rare press conference and criticized Chief Justice Misra accusing him of misusing his authority in allotment of cases as the Supreme Court’s Master of the Roster.
On January 12 this year, Justice Gogoi and three colleagues — Justices J Chelameswar (since retired), Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph — raised questions on the CJI’s allocation of cases to benches in the Supreme Court.
Born on November 18, 1954, justice Gogoi was enrolled as an advocate in 1978. He practised in the Guwahati high court on constitutional, taxation and company matters.
