Ranjan Gogoi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ranjan Gogoi
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Gogoi in 2019
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| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| Assumed office 17 March 2020 |
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| Nominated by | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Appointed by | M. Venkaiah Naidu |
| Constituency | Nominated (Law) |
| 46th Chief Justice of India | |
| In office 3 October 2018 – 17 November 2019 |
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| Appointed by | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Preceded by | Dipak Misra |
| Succeeded by | Sharad Arvind Bobde |
| Judge of the Supreme Court of India | |
| In office 23 April 2012 – 2 October 2018 |
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| Nominated by | S. H. Kapadia |
| Appointed by | Pratibha Patil |
| Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court | |
| In office 12 February 2011 – 23 April 2012 |
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| Nominated by | S. H. Kapadia |
| Appointed by | Pratibha Patil |
| Preceded by | Mukul Mudgal |
| Succeeded by | Adarsh Kumar Goel (acting) |
| Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court | |
| In office 9 September 2010 – 11 February 2011 |
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| Nominated by | S. H. Kapadia |
| Appointed by | Pratibha Patil |
| Judge of the Gauhati High Court | |
| In office 28 February 2001 – 8 September 2010 |
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| Nominated by | Adarsh Sein Anand |
| Appointed by | K. R. Narayanan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 November 1954 Dibrugarh, Assam, India |
| Spouse | Rupanjali Gogoi |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater | Faculty of Law, University of Delhi |
| Occupation |
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| Awards | Assam Baibhav, 2023 |
Ranjan Gogoi (born 18 November 1954) is an Indian lawyer and judge. He served as the 46th Chief Justice of India from 2018 to 2019. Before that, he was a judge in the Supreme Court of India from 2012 to 2018. Currently, he is a Member of the Rajya Sabha. He was chosen for this role by President Ram Nath Kovind in March 2020.
Gogoi started his career as a judge in the Gauhati High Court (2001-2010). He then moved to the Punjab and Haryana High Court (2010-2011). He later became the Chief Justice of that court (2011-2012). He is also part of the Committee on External Affairs in the Rajya Sabha.
Ranjan Gogoi was born and grew up in Dibrugarh, Assam. He comes from a family involved in politics. His father, Kesab Chandra Gogoi, was the Chief Minister of Assam for a short time in 1982. Ranjan Gogoi is the only Chief Justice of India whose father was a Chief Minister. He is also the first Chief Justice from Northeast India.
Gogoi studied at Cotton University and later earned his law degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He became a lawyer in 1978. During his time as a judge, he made many important decisions. These included updating the National Register of Citizens for Assam and ruling on the Ayodhya dispute. He retired in 2019 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2020. He has also written a book about his life called "Justice for the Judge: An Autobiography".
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ranjan Gogoi was born on 18 November 1954 in Dibrugarh, Assam. His family has a long history in the Ahom dynasty. His father, Kesab Chandra Gogoi, was a politician from the Indian National Congress party. He served as the Chief Minister of Assam in 1982.
Gogoi's mother, Shanti Gogoi, was a social activist and writer. She started an organization called SEWA (Socio Educational Welfare Association) in 2000. This group helps people in need. Both of his maternal grandparents were also important political figures. His grandmother, Padma Kumari Gohain, was one of the first female MLAs and ministers in Assam.
Ranjan was the second of five children. All his siblings also did very well in their careers. His older brother, Anjan, became an Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force. His younger brother, Nirjan, became a doctor in the United Kingdom. His two younger sisters, Indira and Nandita, worked in the Assam civil service.
As a child, Ranjan wanted to go to Sainik School. He and his brother Anjan decided who would go with a coin toss. Anjan won and went to the Sainik School. Ranjan Gogoi went to Don Bosco School in Dibrugarh.
He later studied at Cotton College (now Cotton University) in Guwahati. Then he moved to Delhi for his higher studies. He graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with a degree in history. He also passed the Civil Services Examination, but decided to study law instead. He got his law degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.
His father once predicted that Ranjan would become the Chief Justice of India. This prediction later came true.
Early Career and High Court Experience (1978-2012)
Ranjan Gogoi became a lawyer in 1978. He worked at the Gauhati High Court under a senior lawyer named JP Bhattacharjee. In 1991, he started working on his own. He handled cases related to constitutional, taxation, and company matters.
He became well-known for his work in turning the Tezpur Mental Hospital into a research center. He also gained attention for representing former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in a big investigation. In 1999, he became a senior lawyer at the High Court.
On 28 February 2001, he was made a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court. During his time there, he helped resolve about 10,000 education department cases by grouping similar ones together.
On 9 September 2010, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He became the acting Chief Justice of this court on 3 January 2011. He was officially sworn in as Chief Justice on 12 February 2011.
During his time at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he made several important decisions. For example, in 2011, he was part of a group of judges who ordered private schools to save 15% of their spots for students from poorer families. He also ruled that women could get maternity leave benefits for their third child.
Supreme Court Career (2012-2019)
Becoming a Supreme Court Judge
On 23 April 2012, Ranjan Gogoi was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was sworn in by Chief Justice S. H. Kapadia. Many important people, including his mother and elder brother, attended the ceremony.
In October 2014, Justice Gogoi praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign). He spoke about it at an event for the National Green Tribunal.
In October 2017, the Supreme Court's Collegium (a group of senior judges) decided to make all its decisions about appointing judges public. This was done to make the process more open and clear.
During his six years as a Supreme Court judge, Gogoi delivered over 603 judgments. At least 25 of these were from "constitution benches," which involve five or more judges.
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Becoming Chief Justice of India
On 13 September 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India. This appointment followed a recommendation from the previous Chief Justice, Dipak Misra.
On 3 October 2018, he was sworn in as the Chief Justice of India. President Ram Nath Kovind gave him the oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Many important political leaders and Gogoi's mother were present at the ceremony.
His Time as Chief Justice
As Chief Justice, Gogoi attended many important events. He also created the Centre for Research and Planning (CRP) in November 2018. This was an "in-house think tank" to help the Supreme Court with its knowledge and research.
In June 2019, Gogoi met with the Chief Justice of Russia to talk about how their courts could work together.
On 22 June 2019, Gogoi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He asked for more judges in the Supreme Court and for the retirement age of High Court judges to be increased. These suggestions were made because there were many cases waiting to be heard. The government later approved increasing the number of Supreme Court judges.
During his time as Chief Justice, he recommended 14 judges to the Supreme Court.
Important Judgments and Orders
Rules for Government Ads
On 13 May 2015, a group of judges led by Gogoi made a rule. They banned pictures of politicians in government advertisements. Only the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, and famous past leaders like Mahatma Gandhi were allowed. Gogoi said such photos could create a "personality cult," which is not good for democracy.
Later, on 18 May 2016, this rule was changed. It then allowed photos of Chief Ministers, Union Ministers, Governors, and state ministers in government ads.
Special Courts for Politicians
On 1 November 2017, a group of judges including Gogoi asked the government to create special courts. These courts would handle cases involving MLAs and MPs. This was to help speed up these cases. By 14 December 2017, the court ordered 12 such special courts to be set up.
On the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a list of all legal citizens in Assam. It was created to identify people who were living in the state illegally.
On 17 December 2014, a bench of judges including Ranjan Gogoi ordered the government to finish updating the NRC for Assam by 1 January 2016. This was a very important and complex task for the state.
Ayodhya Dispute Verdict
On 9 November 2019, Ranjan Gogoi and four other Supreme Court judges gave their verdict on the Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. After 40 days of hearings, the five judges all agreed to give the land to the Hindu side to build a temple.
This was his last major case before he retired on 17 November 2019.
Member of Rajya Sabha (2020-Present)
Nomination and Oath
President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha is one of the two houses of the Indian Parliament. On 19 March 2020, he took his oath as a Member of Parliament.
His nomination caused some discussion about whether judges should accept government positions after retirement. Gogoi stated that he accepted the nomination because President Kovind asked for his service.
His Role in Rajya Sabha
On 23 July 2020, Gogoi was appointed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs. This committee deals with India's relationships with other countries. He later changed committees but returned to the Committee on External Affairs in May 2022.
In September 2020, it was revealed that Gogoi is the only member of the Rajya Sabha who does not take a salary or allowances. He has also said that he does not plan to become a minister or join a political party.
Personal Life
Family
Ranjan Gogoi is married to Rupanjali Gogoi. They have two children, a son named Raktim and a daughter named Rashmi. Both of their children are also lawyers. His daughter, Rashmi, is married to the son of a former judge from the Delhi High Court.
Health
Gogoi had a health issue called pancreatitis in the 1980s. He had it again in April 2011 when he was Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He received treatment in Delhi for it.
Interests and Security
Ranjan Gogoi has traveled to many countries, including Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. He visited these places for various conferences and meetings related to law.
He is not on social media platforms like Twitter. Some fake tweets have been wrongly linked to his name.
Gogoi is one of 63 people in India who receive Z plus security. This is a high level of protection provided by the Central Reserve Police Force.
Finances
When Gogoi became the Chief Justice of India in 2018, he was one of 11 Supreme Court judges who made their personal finances public. He shared that he did not own a car. The only property he had was given to him by his mother in 2015.
Views on the Judiciary
Ranjan Gogoi has often said that the court system in India needs improvements. He has noted that many cases take too long, which can be frustrating for people seeking justice. In an interview in June 2023, he also mentioned that judges in the Supreme Court could sometimes be involved in corruption.
Images for kids
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Gogoi, during his tenure as a Supreme Court justice, with President Ram Nath Kovind, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Kurian Joseph inaugurating the National Conference in New Delhi on 1 September 2018.
See also
- List of current members of the Rajya Sabha
- List of nominated members of the Rajya Sabha
- List of former judges of the Supreme Court of India
