Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was hearing the Ayodhya and Rafale cases today. (File)
"The country needs fighter jets. The country needs teachers. The country needs a lot of things but sadly, we have limited time."
This statement was made by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi before hearing the Ayodhya and Rafale cases today.
He made the remarks when a lawyer tried to mention a matter on teachers' recruitment at the end of the day, before adjourning the hearing in the Rafale case to March 14.
The CJI sat with the bench of judges of three combination. Justice Gogoi first sat in the bench, also comprising Justices AK Sikri and SA Bobde.
Justice Sikri was part of the bench as it was his last working day in the Supreme Court. It is a custom in the court that the retiring judge on the last day in office sits with the CJI-led bench.
Later, the CJI sat in a new combination of judges which was a five-judge constitution bench to hear the Ayodhya land dispute case.
The hearing went for an hour and after reserving the order, the CJI along with other judges -- Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer rose.
The CJI then headed a three-judge bench, also comprising Justices SK Kaul and KM Jospeh, to hear the Rafale jet deal case.