Justice Gogoi retires as CJI

New Delhi, November 17

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the first person from the Northeast to reach the top of judiciary and credited for bringing the curtains down on the decades old politically and religiously sensitive Ayodhya land dispute, retired as the Chief Justice of India on Sunday.

Justice Gogoi’s tenure as judge and as CJI was marked by some controversies and personal allegations but that never came in the way of his judicial work that was reflected in the last few days when Benches headed by him delivered some path-breaking judgments.

He etched his name in the annals of history when a five-judge Bench headed by him on November 9 brought an end to the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.

However, his tenure in the apex court will also be remembered for being part of a presser by the ‘gang of four’ senior-most judges in January last year which questioned the then CJI’s way of functioning.

Later at a public function, Justice Gogoi had remarked that “independent judges and noisy journalists are democracy’s first line of defence”.

A “revolution, not reform” was needed to keep the institution of judiciary serviceable for the common man, Justice Gogoi had said at the same function.

Justice Gogoi’s tenure as CJI was not free of controversy as he faced allegations of sexual harassment, of which he was cleared.

However, he is more likely to be remembered for the Ayodhya verdict that gave Hindus the 2.77 acre disputed land for construction of Ram temple, and order that Muslims be given a 5-acre land at a “prominent location” to build a mosque in the city.

Justice Gogoi’s name will also be remembered for heading a Bench which gave clean chit to the Modi government twice — first on the writ petition and then on Thursday on the pleas seeking review of the December 14, 2018, verdict — in the Rafale fighter jet deal with French firm Dassault Aviation. — PTI