Government asks CJI Dipak Misra for successor’s name

NEW DELHI: The law ministry has sent a formal letter to Chief Justice Dipak Misra, seeking the name of his successor, according to a legal source. The CJI will send a formal recommendation in reply in a few days, the source added. As per convention, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court is appointed the Chief Justice of India and Justice Ranjan Gogoi by virtue of his seniority is next in line.

CJI Misra demits office on October 2 and has to give the name of his successor at least a month before retirement. The process starts with a formal request from the government to the CJI to name his successor. While saying that the CJI will send the name of his successor in the next few days, the source refused to give a specific date but hinted that it would be done within the first few days of September.

Justice Gogoi hails from Assam and is part of a two-judge bench which ordered the National Register for Citizens be prepared without delay. His appointment is almost certain though question marks were raised over it in the wake of a news conference he addressed along with three other judges over the manner of functioning of CJI Misra. The four judges questioned the way in which the CJI assigned ‘sensitive political cases’ to ‘specific’ benches comprising ‘junior’ judges.

Tough and outspoken Justice Gogoi has taken senior and junior advocates alike to task for not appearing on time in his court or for appearing unprepared. His disdain for ‘motivated PILs’ also is well-known. A rare judicial mind, in one of his famous judgments, Justice Gogoi had urged the government to junk the age old technique of reserving quotas in jobs and admissions on basis of caste and urged the executive to redefine parameters of determining backwardness to bring within its sweep the really poor and underprivileged such as transgenders and economically poor. Justice Gogoi will along with Justice RF Nariman hear the NRC case on Tuesday.