New Delhi: In just eight working days before his retirement on November 17 after the Supreme Court reopens on Monday, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is to deliver not only the crucial Ayodhya judgment on the Ram Mandir - Babri Mosque land dispute but four other key verdicts including one on the review of the politically-sensitive Rafale aircraft judgment.
One of the judgments that he had kept pending relates to a criminal contempt proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongly attributing to the Supreme Court his "Chowkidar Chor Hai" remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rahul apologised unconditionally but the CJI decided not to let him off, keeping on hold the verdict.
A 5-judge Constitution Bench headed by CJI Gogoi will also pronounce its judgment on the review of the top court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabrimala temple in Kerala.
On April 4, another 5-judge Constitution Bench headed by him had reserved verdict on three appeals filed back in 2010 by the Court's Secretary General and its central public information against a Delhi High Court order that the CJI's office falls under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
On October 16, the Supreme Court had reserved its judgment on 14 appeals against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment delivered in four civil suits, splitting the 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Hirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
The Hindu organisations, led by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, are hoping the verdict to go in their favour, making advance preparations to start the construction on December 6, the anniversary of the Babri Mosque demolition in 1992.
In the Rafale review case, the top court has to decide the pleas, including one by former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, to review its judgment on December 14, 2018 which gave a clean chit to the Centre's Rafale deal to procure 36 fighter jets from French firm Dassault.
