Justice Gogoi will be remembered for giving finality to Ayodhya case

New Delhi : Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who will demit office as the CJI in a week's time, has etched his name in the annals of history by giving finality to one of the most politically and religiously sensitive cases, the Ayodhya land dispute, which dates back to even before the Supreme Court came into existence in 1950.

The judge, known for his no-nonsense approach, boldness and fearlessness, led a five-judge Constitution bench that conducted a marathon 40-day high voltage hearing during which his patience was tested by some of the country's best lawyers who argued the matter.

Justice Gogoi, who was sworn on October 3, 2018 as the 46th Chief Justice of India, is the first person from the Northeast to reach the top position of judiciary and his tenure of a little over 13 months comes to ends on November 17, 2019.

He had made it clear that the verdict in the Ayodhya dispute was to delivered before November 17.

Since taking the leadership of Indian judiciary on October 3 last year and also as the judge of the apex before, Justice Gogoi faced several ups and downs but that did not affect his approach to take on issues head on.

While Justice Gogoi is known for taking hard and sometimes surprising decisions, the Ayodhya matter reflected both as he not only ensured that arguments were not allowed to be dragged but wrapped up the hearing two days ahead of the scheduled deadline of October 18, saying 'enough is enough'.

True to his style when speculation was that the Ayodhya verdict will be delivered on the last three working days of his tenure as CJI, he sprang a surprise on late Friday evening by deciding to deliver judgement on Saturday when judges keep themselves away from courtroom cases.

Besides hearing the vexatious Ayodhya matter, Justice Gogoi led a bench which monitored and ensured that National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam, his native state, is completed within the set timeframe.