Delhi (The Stellar News): On Thursday, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana sets in motion the process of appointment of his successor and recommended the name of Justice Uday Umesh Lalit to the Centre. CJI Ramana is retiring this month.
Justice Ramana, the 48th Chief Justice of India, took over as the head of the Indian Judiciary from SA Bobde on 24 April, 2021. Justice Lalit is in line to become the 49th CJI on 27 August, a day after incumbent CJI NV Ramana demits the office.
CJI Ramana personally handed over the copy of letter of recommendation to Justice Lalit, the most senior Judge.
Interestingly, Justice Lalit’s tenure as the Chief Justice of India will be less than three months as he retires on 8 November this year. It is worth mentioning that if Justice Lalit is appointed as the CJI, he would be the second in the post to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court Bench from the Bar. Justice SM Sikri, the 13th CJI, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the apex court bench.
Justice UU Lalit is a renowned senior advocate, who was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court on 13 August, 2014. He has been part of several landmark judgements. He was part of five-judge constitution bench that delivered the path-breaking instant ‘triple talaq’ verdict in August 2017. By a 3-2 majority the bench ruled the practice of divorce through instant ‘triple talaq’ as “void”, “illegal” and “unconstitutional”. He was also appointed a special public prosecutor for the CBI conduct trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Report: Deepanjot Kaur (Under Training)
