India got new chief justice on Wednesday (3) after justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as the 46th chief justice of the country succeeding Justice Deepak Misra, who retired on Tuesday (2) after attaining the age of 65.
Indian president Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath to Justice Gogoi in a small ceremony arranged at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace.
Justice Gogoi is scheduled to retire on November 17, 2019.
Soon after the oath-taking ceremony, justice Gogoi said “parameters” would be worked out for quick mentioning and hearing of cases and that “no urgent mentioning of cases will be allowed” till certain parameters are fixed for it.
“We will work out the parameters then we will see as to how mentioning will be done. If somebody is going to be hanged tomorrow, then we can understand (urgency),” he added.
The new chief justice of India is the first person from the northeastern part of India to attain the top position in the India judiciary after he appointed as chief justice of India (CJI) on September 13.
Son of former Assam chief minister Keshab Chandra Gogoi, justice Gogoi is from Dibrugarh of Assam who enrolled as a lawyer in 1978. He served as an advocate in the Gauhati High Court on constitutional, taxation and company matters. He was succeeded to become a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court in 2001.
At India’s top court, CJI Gogoi is now observing the update procedure of the National Register of Citizens, aimed to identify the illegal migrants in Assam. CJI is also dealing with a petition on the appointment of Lokpal.
Justice Gogoi also headed the bench which asked the government to establish special courts to fast-track cases against politicians.
