Ranjan Gogoi Retires as CJI after an eventful legal career

RANJAN Gogoi, the first legal luminary from   India’s north-east to have occupied the august office of the Chief Justice of India, has superannuated. Sharad Arvind Bobde belonging to a lawyer’s family in Nagpur has succeeded him. (In the picture above Outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi with his successor Justice SA Bobde).   The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Friday, November 15, bid farewell to Ranjan Gogoi, who belongs to Assam and started legal practice in the Gauhati High Court. His retirement date was November 17.He sat in Court Room 1 of the Apex Court for the last time on November 15. Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn in as the forty-sixth Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018.Born on November 18, 1954, Justice Gogoi was enrolled as an advocate in 1978. He practised in the Gauhati High Court on constitutional, taxation, and company matters. He was appointed as a permanent judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001. On September 9, 2010, he was transferred to the Punjab & Haryana High Court. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court on February 12, 2011. Subsequently, he was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on April 23, 2012.He wound up his judicial work for the day in less than five minutes.CJI Gogoi issued a statement earlier during the day saying that though he would be unable to interact on a one-on-one basis with the judges of the High Court and District Courts, he would address them collectively via video conferencing in the evening. Before attending the SCBA farewell function, Justice Gogoi went to Rajghat accompanied by his spouse to pay his respects – an exercise he carried out at the start of his term as well. Judges of the Supreme Court and members of the Bar attended the informal farewell function and in a short function sans any farewell speeches, the CJI was presented with a memento by the SCBA members. The function ended after a vote of thanks by President of the SCBA Rakesh Khanna and the welcome address delivered by Advocate Preeti Singh. Justice had informed the media that he would not be available for personal interviews. Before demitting office, Justice Gogoi also had a message for the Bar:”Over a period of 40 years as a lawyer and a Judge, I have had the prestige to watch from close quarters the majesty of Law. It also provided me an opportunity to contribute to the institution which I tried to serve to the best of my abilities. I have tried to address pressing issues of the justice delivery system and I am confident that we will keep on moving forward. Judges get benefitted by the inputs provided by the lawyers appearing before them in establishing the authority of law. The SCBA has for long stood as an indispensable pillar of the apex judicial institution, and as the bar association of the apex court, the SCBA must also serve as an exemplar to other bar associations of the country. Although I won’t be a part of this extraordinary and much respected institution any longer but a part of me will always remain with it and will always wish the best for it!”