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Ranjan Gogoi: A judge with a difference

Overcoming all apprehensions, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi is all set to take charge. But will the Supreme Court remain the same?

THE 'RADIANT LEAVES OF MEMORIES' FELL

Despite the gentle poetry of the title, excitement charged the balmy evening of September 15 as Shanti Gogoi, 84, resplendent in a white and gold mekhela-chadar, released her autobiography- Huworonit Rongin Paat in Assamese- at the Garden Treat Hotel in Dibrugarh, Assam. Across the room, people nudged each other. "There he is," they whispered. A man, who sat with formidable composure in the front row. "He has come all the way for his mother's book launch"; "Just two days after becoming the Chief Justice of India"; "Northeast's first". The mother looked on proudly at the son she called "His Lordship", in jest and in earnest. The second of her five children, Ranjan Gogoi, certainly added a colourful leaf in her book of life.

Despite the enormous power they wield, judges do not lead colourful lives. They do their work quietly, away from the limelight, and speak only through

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