President of India, Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India, the law ministry of India confirmed in a statement. Justice Gogoi will assume office on October 3, 2018, as the 46th CJI. His tenure will end in November 2019.
Earlier, rumors arose of Justice Gogoi’s appointment as the next CJI after the apex court’s most senior judges, of which included him had called for a press conference in January, citing Justice Misra’s bias on allocation of cases to certain benches.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure, which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, “appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office”.
Earlier, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who is set to leave his office on October 2, recommended Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s name to the government of India. The outgoing CJI has to recommend a name 30 days before leaving office.
Justice Gogoi, born on November 18, 1954, had joined the Bar in 1978. He was appointed as permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001 and later transferred to the Punjab & Haryana High Court on September 9, 2010. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court on February 12, 2011 and elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on April 23, 2012.
Justice Gogoi, due to take charge as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after Justice Dipak Misra retires on 2 October 2018, will have a tenure of 1 year, 1 month and 14 days until he retires on 17 November 2019.
Earlier, India Legal reported that Justice Ranjan Gogoi would take over as the next CJI.
