Who Is Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, The Mediator In Reliance's KG Basin Dispute
· Free Press Journal
The Supreme Court on Friday appointed former apex court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desaias mediator in the ₹12,800-crore Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin gas migration dispute between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the Union government.
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A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi referred the matter to mediation after noting that the parties had failed to arrive at a mutually acceptable settlement.
Supreme Court Refers Reliance's ₹12,800 Crore KG Basin Gas Dispute With Centre To MediationLegal career and tenure in the Supreme Court
A law graduate from Government Law College, Bombay, Desai entered the legal profession in July 1973. She was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court in April 1996 and elevated to the Supreme Court in September 2011. She served on the country's highest court until October 2014.
During her tenure as a Supreme Court judge, Desai was part of benches that delivered several significant judgments and orders.
These included the confirmation of the death sentence awarded to 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab; the refusal to cancel the bail granted to then Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case; and the denial of bail to YSR Congress leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in a disproportionate assets case.
She was also part of benches involved in recognising the None of the Above (NOTA) option in elections.
A series of assignments after retirement
Desai's public service did not end with her retirement from the Supreme Court. Within weeks, she was appointed chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, taking charge on December 1, 2014. She held the position until November 2017.
In July 2018, she was appointed chairperson of the Income Tax Advance Ruling Authority, a position she held until October 2019. She also headed the eight-member search committee tasked with recommending candidates for the positions of chairperson and members of the Lokpal, India's anti-corruption ombudsman. The committee was constituted in September 2018 and reconstituted in 2023, with Desai retained as its head.
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One of her most prominent assignments came in March 2020, when she was appointed chairperson of the Delimitation Commission. The panel undertook the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, increasing the number of Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory from 83 to 90.
The exercise attracted criticism from several Kashmir-based political parties, which alleged that the redrawing of boundaries altered the electoral balance in favour of certain regions and communities.
Desai was also entrusted with delimitation work in Assam, although that exercise was subsequently carried out directly by the Election Commission of India.
In November 2025, she was named chairperson of the Eighth Central Pay Commission, which is tasked with examining matters relating to the pay, allowances and service conditions of central government employees.
Role in Uniform Civil Code committees
Desai has also been associated with efforts to examine and formulate proposals for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). In 2022, she was appointed to head a committee constituted by the Uttarakhand government to examine the possibility of implementing a UCC in the state. She subsequently chaired a similar committee in Gujarat.
More recently, Maharashtra appointed a committee headed by Desai to prepare rules and recommendations for implementing a Uniform Civil Code. West Bengal has also assigned her a similar responsibility.
Her appointment as mediator in the KG Basin dispute adds another significant assignment to an extensive post-retirement career.