Chief Justice Misra recommends Justice Ranjan Gogoi as his successor

If the recommendation is cleared by the government, Justice Gogoi will be administered the oath of office by the President on Oct 3

Following the principle of seniority, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra has recommended the name of Justice Ranjan Gogoi as his successor. Justice Gogoi is the senior-most judge of the top court after Chief Justice Misra.

As per convention, the outgoing Chief Justice sends the recommendation about his successor 30 days before he is to demit office so that the Chief Justice-designate is named well in time.

If the recommendation is cleared by the Central government, Justice Gogoi will be administered the oath of office by President Ram Nath Kovind on October 3.

CJI Misra is retiring on October 2, but the day being a national holiday on account of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, October 1 will be his last working day.

The Union Law Ministry had in August last week written to the Chief Justice requesting him to recommend the name of his successor.

Justice Gogoi is one of the four Supreme Court judges who had held the unprecedented press conference in January this year, raising concerns about the administration in the apex court, saying it was "not in order". The other three judges were -- Justice J. Chelameswar (now retired), Justice M.B. Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph.

Justice Gogoi is from Assam, and he headed the special bench that is monitoring the updation of National Register of Citizens to identify citizens in the northeastern state.

Born in 1954, Justice Gogoi joined the Bar in 1978. He was subsequently appointed as Permanent Judge of Gauhati High Court on February 28, 2001.

Later transferred to the Punjab & Haryana High Court in September 2010, he went on to become the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court in February 2011. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in April 2012.

Attempt made to influence me: Justice Indira Banerjee (PTI)

Supreme Court judge Justice Indira Banerjee has revealed in an open court that an effort was made to influence her in a case related to Hotel Royal Plaza. A bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and Banerjee was hearing the matter on August 30 when the revelation was made. Justice Mishra said the attempt to influence the judge amounted to contempt of court.

Senior lawyer Shyam Divan requested Justice Banerjee not to recuse herself from the hearing as it might be used by others as well to ensure recusal of judges from hearing cases.

Justice Banerjee also said during the hearing that sometimes even senior members of the bar start talking about pending cases after customary meetings. She said that any attempt to influence the court will be viewed seriously, while hinting that somebody had telephoned her for the same. However, there was no clarity on whether there was a telephone call or who made it. The bench then heard the matter and reserved its verdict.

Justice Banerjee, who was the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, has recently been elevated to the apex court. Besides her, Justices Vineet Saran and K M Joseph have been elevated to the apex court as judges.