OCTOBER 8, 2018INDIA TODAY 43CJI taking charge, will the Supreme
Court remain the same?COURT’S EYE VIEW
“Expect fireworks in the court,” say
young lawyers. Justice Gogoi sits
likeasphinx,hisfaceimpassive,but
his calm demeanour and insistent
questions are remarkably threat-
ening to lawyers. Many of them
recall his use of the contempt power
against retired Supreme Court judge
Markandey Katju in 2016 amid
chants of “wrong, wrong, wrong”
from lawyers; or against Justice C.S.
Karnanin2017.Yet,whenheleans
forward, digging into the facts of a
case in extraordinary detail, even his
barbed tone injects the often-sedate
court arguments with vibrancy.
Senior advocates bestow a litany
of praise on the CJI: far-sighted,
unblemished judicial record, inde-
pendent, open-minded, outstanding,
intuitive, courageous. What they
really mean is: Justice Gogoi is likely
to retain complete control over his
court. In an election year and amidst
arangeofcomplexcasesfraught
with political overtones—from the
Ayodhya title suit, the National Reg-
isterofCitizensinAssamtoAadhaar
as proof of identity and more—that
might turn the Supreme Court into a
political lightning rod.PASSION FOR SYMMETRY
Symmetry and order, it is said, are
of utmost importance to CJI Gogoi.
Helikestoorganisethings—files,
work space, furniture—in geometri-
cal symmetry. Hardly a surprise:
symmetry is a key concept as much
in legal rhetoric and reasoning as in
management theories. The passion
for symmetry may have made him an
ace chess player, for in good hands a
symmetrical position can be deadly
inthegame.Thisdesirefororder
and logical balance should help the
CJI get his house in order. As of
August 31, the Supreme Court has
25 judges as against the approved
strength of 31. With five judges set toretire during his tenure, the number
of vacancies can double. With more
than 427 judicial posts lying vacant
in the 24 high courts, against an ap-
proved strength of 1,079, the Delhi,
Calcutta, Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa
and Allahabad high courts are work-
ing at around half their strength.
Over 27.6 million cases are pending
in lower courts. The CJI will need
“notareformbutarevolution”,inhis
own words at a conference last July.
Inthepast40years,someofthe
most bruising battles of the nation
have been fought between its two
pillars, the judiciary and the execu-
tive, over who can “ judge the judges”.
From 2015, when the Supreme Court
struck down the National Judicial
Appointments Commission (NJAC)
Act proposed by the Modi govern-
ment to replace the collegium system
of appointing judges, a constitutional
crisis has been simmering. At the
same time, the collegium system is
far from perfect. According to Justice
(retd) J. Chelameswar, who wa s par t
of the NJAC verdict, the collegium
lacks “transparency, accountability
and objectivity”. CJI Gogoi will need
to steer through the unresolved crisis
over the Memorandum of Procedure
for higher judiciary appointments.ETHICS IN HIS GENES
Born to an elite family of lawyers
and politicians in Upper Assam,
theCJIcarriesinfluencingand
negotiatingskillsinhisgenes.The
family residence at K.C. Gogoi Path
in Dibrugarh is named after his
father, the late Keshab Chandra
Gogoi, lawyer, member of the Assam
Legislative Assembly and one-time
chiefministerofAssam.Thelineage
on his mother’s side can be traced
back to the Ahom royal family of
Swargadeo Purandar Singh. Both his
grandparents Jogesh Chandra and
Padmakumari Gohain were legisla-
tors and ministers in pre- and post-
Independence India. His mother, a
leadingfigureinAssameseliterary
and social circles, founded the SocioA FEW
JUDGMENTS...
and the best linesSEPTEMBER 2018
Heads the Supreme Court bench
monitoring the National Register
of Citizens in Assam case, the
claims and objections of 4 million
people whose names do not
figure in the July 30 draft NRC
“What assurance? Court
gives only orders”AUGUST 2018
Leads a bench that instructs
Centre to put in place special
courts for the speedy trial of cri-
minal cases involving politicians.
Not getting any response, says:
“The Union of India
doesn’t appear to be
ready and prepared”
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FEBRUARY 2017
Part of a bench that refuses to
grant an extension to Sahara
honcho Subrata Roy to deposit
Rs 600 crore
“We cannot be assem-
bling every month for
you to deposit meagre
amounts”
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NOVEMBER 2017
Along with senior colleagues,
sentences an allegedly “ec-
centric” Justice C.S. Karnan for
contempt to six months in jail
“His public utterances
had made the Indian judi-
ciary a laughing stock”
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NOVEMBER 2016
Issues contempt notice to
former Supreme Court Justice
Markandey Katju for a blog post
on his ruling commuting the
death sentence of Govindasamy,
convicted for raping a girl in
Kerala in 2011
“It (the blog) is an assault
on the judges and not the
judgment”
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