President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi the next chief justice of India. Gogoi will assume office on October 3, after current Chief Justice Dipak Misra retires, the Centre said in a notification.
Gogoi will have a tenure of a year, one month and 14 days, and will retire on November 17, 2019.
On August 28, the law ministry asked Misra to recommend the name of his successor. His recommendation is in line with the Supreme Court’s tradition of naming the most senior judge after the outgoing chief justice as the successor. Misra had recommended Gogoi’s name.
Gogoi and three other senior top court judges – Jasti Chelameswar, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph – held an unprecedented press conference on January 12 to speak out against the manner in which Misra had been assigning cases to benches and handling other matters. Chelameswar has since retired.
Gogoi, born on November 18, 1954, joined the Bar in 1978. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001. Nine years later, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where he rose to become chief justice on February 12, 2011. He was elevated to the top court the following year.
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