The apex court had ordered the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site by setting up a trust, while ordering five acres be given to Muslims in Ayodhya to construct a mosque. The bench held that the "possessory claim of the Hindus to the composite whole of the disputed property stands on a better footing than the evidence from the Muslims," while emphasising on tolerance and mutual co-existence, which played a crucial role to nourish the secular commitment of the country and its people.
Before leaving the office, Gogoi had said that the issue of pendency of cases in Indian courts is used extensively to "pull down the institution".
In a span of six years, two former Chief Justices have been accorded plum posts after retirement. Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who retired in November 2019, is the latest after he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind. Former Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, who held the office for nine months from 2013 to 2014, after retirement was appointed the Governor of Kerala from September 2014 to September 2019.
The Home Ministry on Monday issued a notification announcing that President Ram Nath Kovind is nominating Gogoi to fill the vacancy originating due to retirement of one of the nominated members.
Other key judgments:
Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India in October 2018. He was appointed for a 13-month stint, and he took over from Justice Dipak Mishra.
A bench headed by Gogoi also ruled that Chief Justice Office falls under RTI but placed some riders. And, in another judgment, a bench headed by him in a majority judgment of 3:2 referred the Sabarimala temple judgment of 2018 to a larger bench. Justice Gogoi also pursued the Assam NRC, and tasked the authorities concerned to publish the final list before August 31, 2019.
In another politically sensitive judgment, a three-judge bench, headed by Gogoi, and comprising Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph, on 14 November dismissed a review petition challenging the Rafale deal case. A bench headed by Gogoi also censured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongfully attributing the "Chowkidar chor hai" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the top court.
(with inputs from agencies)