A brief background of the Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi

[dropcap]J[/dropcap]USTICE Ranjan Gogoi is the sitting Chief Justice of India and was appointed to this post on October 3, 2018. Prior to his appointment, he had been a judge of the Supreme Court for over six years.

In an unprecedented move in January, 2018,  a few months before his appointment, Justice Gogoi along with three of the then senior judges called a press conference to bring to light issues that they believed threatened the independence of the judiciary. "It's a discharge of debt to the nation which we have done," Justice Gogoi had said at that time. 

Currently, Chief Justice Gogoi is hearing cases pertaining to the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC), and the challenge to the scheme of electoral bonds.

Along with this, he is part of the bench that is hearing the contempt petition filed against Rahul Gandhi by Meenakshi Lekhi for his remark "Chowkidar Chor Hai" in relation to the Rafale case.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi is also hearing a contempt petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Saradha chit fund case against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, Chief Secretary of the State. The CBI recently moved an application seeking Rajeev Kumar's custodial interrogation.

Justice Gogoi is also hearing a petition filed by the producers of the Narendra Modi biopic challenging the Election Commission of India's order stating that it should not be screened during election time. In this case, Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission to watch the biopic and report back to the court in a sealed cover.