New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind with Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjan Gogoi during a national conference on 'Technology, Training and Infrastructure: Keys to Speedy Justice' & ' The Changing face of Legal Education in India' organised by Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association in New Delhi on Saturday, Sept 1, 2018. (RB Photo via PTI) (PTI9_1_2018_000035B) Ranjan Gogoi will take charge on
Oct 3: Report
New Delhi : Following the principle of seniority, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra has recommended the name of Justice Ranjan Gogoi as his successor. Justice Gogoi is the senior-most judge of the top court after Chief Justice Misra.
As per convention, the outgoing Chief Justice sends the recommendation about his successor 30 days before he is to demit office so that the Chief Justice-designate is named well in time.
If the recommendation is cleared by the Central government, Justice Gogoi will be administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind on October 3.
CJI Misra is retiring on October 2, but the day being a national holiday on account of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, October 1 will be his last working day.
The Union Law Ministry had in August last week written to the Chief Justice requesting him to recommend the name of his successor.
Justice Gogoi is one of the four Supreme Court judges who had held the unprecedented press conference in January this year, raising concerns about the administration in the apex court, saying it was “not in order”. The other three judges were — Justice J. Chelameswar (now retired), Justice MB Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph.
Justice Gogoi is from Assam, and he headed the special bench that is monitoring the updation of National Register of Citizens to identify citizens in the northeastern state.
Born in 1954, Justice Gogoi joined the Bar in 1978. He was subsequently appointed as Permanent Judge of Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001.
Later transferred to the Punjab & Haryana High Court in September 2010, he went on to become the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court in February 2011.
He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in April 2012.
Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said one of the reasons of long delays in adjudication of cases in courts is the “culture of seeking adjournments as a norm” and judiciary is making efforts to curb the practice. “India’s judiciary is respected across the world as an upholder of justice for the defenceless. It is also true that our judges are overburdened by the sheer volume of cases. As a consequence, the Indian legal system is marked by long delays. “There is a backlog of 3.3 crore cases in various courts of the country. Of these, 2.84 crore cases are in the subordinate courts. Another 43 lakh are in the High Courts and about 58,000 in the Supreme Court,” the President said at the inaugural function of a conference being organised by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA).
SC to witness all-women bench on Sept 5
New Delhi : The Supreme Court will repeat history this week as an all-women bench comprising Justices Banumathi and Indira Banerjee will hold court on September 5. The apex court had seen a women alone bench for the first time in 2013 when Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai sat together for hearing a case.
With the swearing-in of Justice Banerjee in August, the Supreme Court for the first time in its history has three sitting women judges. She is the eighth woman judge in the apex court since Independence. Among the three sitting women judges, Justice Banumathi is the senior-most and was elevated to the apex court on August 13, 2014. Justice Fathima Beevi was the first ever woman judge in the top court. Her appointment was followed by those of Justices Sujatha Manohar, Ruma Pal, Gyan Sudha Misra, Ranjana Prakash Desai, R Banumathi, Indu Malhotra and the latest addition to the lot, Indira Banerjee. Out of these, Justices Beevi, Manohar and Pal served their entire tenure in the Supreme Court as sole women judges. It was only in 2011 with the elevation of Justice Desai that the Supreme Court witnessed two sitting women judges.
Attempt made to influence me: SC judge
New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice Indira Banerjee has revealed in an open court that an effort was made to influence her in a case related to Hotel Royal Plaza. A bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and Banerjee was hearing the matter on August 30 in court number 8 when the revelation was made. Justice Mishra said that the attempt to influence the judge amounted to contempt of court. Senior lawyer Shyam Divan requested Justice Banerjee not to recuse herself from the hearing as it might be used by others
as well to ensure recusal of judges from hearing cases. Justice Banerjee also said during the hearing that sometimes even senior members of the bar start talking about pending cases after customary meetings. She said that any attempt to influence the court will be viewed seriously, while hinting that somebody had telephoned her for the same. However, there was no clarity on whether there was a telephone call or who made it. The bench then heard the matter and reserved its verdict.