One day after Justice NV Ramana resigned from the most senior judicial position, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India.
Justice Lalit was sworn in as Chief Justice of India by President Droupadi Murmu this morning at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
As per tradition and seniority rules, Justice Ramana had suggested Justice Lalit as his replacement. Later, the President officially announced Justice Lalit as the next Chief Justice of India.
In charge of India’s judiciary for just 74 days, Justice Lalit will step down on November 8.
At Justice Ramana’s goodbye celebration yesterday, Justice Lalit said that during his roughly three-month term. And he would concentrate on three main areas, with the listing of cases being one of his top objectives.
Additionally, Justice Lalit has pledged to uphold a clear-cut system in which any urgent concerns may be openly brought before the relevant benches of the highest court.
He guaranteed that the Supreme Court would have at least one Constitution Bench operating all year round.
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“I have always believed that the role of the Supreme Court is to lay down law with clarity and consistency, and the best possible way to do it is to have larger benches as early as possible, wherever the matters are referred to such benches. So that the issues get clarified right away, the matter has consistency, and the people are well aware of what exactly are the contours of the peculiar positions in law,” Justice Lalit said.
On his final day of employment, departing CJI, Ramana expressed regret for not being able to list all the exceptional cases. It said the court had been battling a backlog of cases rapidly increasing over the previous months.
Before being appointed as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Lalit was a well-known senior attorney. On August 13, 2014, he was chosen to serve as a Supreme Court justice.
Justice Lalit will be the second Chief Justice of India to be promoted from the bar straight to the Supreme Court bench.
In March 1964, Justice SM Sikri became the first attorney to be promoted straight to the top court bench. And became India’s 13th Chief Justice in January 1971.
On November 9, 1957, in Solapur, Maharashtra, Justice Lalit was born. His father, UR Lalit, served as a prominent Supreme Court attorney. And an additional judge at the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench.
In June 1983, Justice Lalit applied to become an advocate. From 1983 to 1985, he worked as a criminal law specialist in the Bombay High Court.
In January 1986, he moved his practice to Delhi. And the Supreme Court named him a senior advocate in April 2004.
Later, he was chosen by the CBI. And he serve as a special public prosecutor for the case involving the allotment of 2G spectrum.
Justice DY Chandrachud, the next in line for the position, is anticipated to be named the 50th Chief Justice of India when Justice Lalit retires on November 8.
