NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, who presided over the Supreme Court bench for the last time on Friday, etched his name in the annals of history this week by giving some of the most important verdicts on politically sensitive issues in recent times — primarily, the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Justice Gogoi is also known for being part of a presser by the ‘gang of four’ senior most judges in January last year which questioned the then CJI’s way of functioning. Set to demit office on Sunday, Justice Gogoi’s tenure as CJI was not free of controversy as he faced allegations of sexual harassment, of which he was cleared. However, he is more likely to be remembered for the Ayodhya verdict that gave Hindus the 2.77 acre disputed land for construction of Ram Temple, and ordered that Muslims be given a 5-acre land at a prominent location to build a mosque in the holy city.
The CJI also headed a bench which, by a majority 3:2 verdict, referred to a larger 7-judge bench the pleas seeking review of the apex court’s historic 2018 judgement allowing women and girls of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple.
Besides, Justice Gogoi headed a bench which in a landmark verdict held that the office of the CJI is a public authority under the Right to Information Act, but “judicial independence has to be kept in mind” while disclosing information in “public interest”. On the same day, a 5-judge Constitution bench headed by him struck down in entirety the rules formulated by the Centre on appointment and service conditions for members of various tribunals, and referred to a larger bench the issue of examining the validity of the passage of the Finance Act 2017 as Money Bill.
These important decisions apart, Justice Gogoi, known for his no-nonsense approach, boldness and fearlessness, also led a bench which monitored and ensured that NRC exercise in Assam, his native state, is completed within the set timeframe.
As the day’s work began on Friday, he sat in the Supreme Court’s number one court for just about four minutes during which the apex court’s lawyers body expressed gratitude to him.
Justice Gogoi, who was sworn on October 3, 2018 as the 46th CJI, is the first person from the North East to reach the top position of judiciary and his tenure of a little over 13 months comes to end on November 17, 2019.
While Justice Gogoi is known for taking hard and sometimes surprising decisions, the Ayodhya matter reflected both as he not only ensured that arguments were not allowed to be dragged, but wrapped up the hearing two days ahead of the scheduled deadline of October 18, saying ‘enough is enough’.
As a judge he had courted controversy by joining three other senior most judges of apex court in holding a press conference on January 12, 2018 in which they virtually revolted against his predecessor Justice Dipak Misra. He later remarked at a public function that “independent judges and noisy journalists are democracy’s first line of defence”. A “revolution, not reform” was needed to keep the institution of judiciary serviceable for the common man, Justice Gogoi had said at the same function. (PTI)
