Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Tuesday sent a letter to the central government recommending Justice Ranjan Gogoi as his successor.
Justice Gogoi will be sworn-in as the next CJI on October 3.
The CJI has written to the Ministry of Law and Justice endorsing and recommending the name of Justice Gogoi, senior-most judge, as the next CJI.
Interestingly, Justice Ranjan Gogoi was among the four Supreme Court judges who, in January this year, held a press conference against CJI Dipak Misra. Gogoi is the second seniormost judge in the Supreme Court. Justice Dipak Misra will retire on October 2.
As per the memorandum of procedure which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office".
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had recently asked Justice Misra to recommend the name of his successor, setting in motion the process of change of guard in the Supreme Court. Sources in the Law Ministry had said the letter was delivered to the CJI recently. Law Minister Prasad had recently said that the government's intention on the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India should not be questioned. He had also said that when the incumbent names the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as his successor as per convention, the executive will take a call.
(With PTI inputs)
