Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, the senior-most choose within the Supreme Court docket, was on Saturday sworn in because the forty ninth Chief Justice of India (CJI).
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Justice Lalit, who’s the second CJI to be straight elevated to the apex court docket from the Bar, throughout a quick ceremony on the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Because the CJI, Justice Lalit could have a brief tenure of 74 days and demit workplace on November 8 on attaining the age of 65 years. Justice D Y Chandrachud, the senior-most choose after Justice Lalit, is subsequent in line to be the nation’s prime choose.
Justice S M Sikri, who grew to become the thirteenth CJI in January 1971, was the primary lawyer to be elevated on to the highest court docket in March 1964.
“Congratulations,” President Murmu mentioned after Justice Lalit signed the register of oath.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former president Ram Nath Kovind, former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Union ministers together with Kiren Rijiju, who holds the Regulation and Justice portfolio, have been current on the ceremony.
Justice Lalit’s predecessor, Justice N. V. Ramana, was additionally current.
After he was sworn in, Justice Lalit sought the blessings of his 90-year-old father Umesh Ranganath Lalit, a former choose of the Bombay Excessive Court docket in 1975, and different household elders by touching their toes.
Justice Lalit, who was a senior advocate earlier than being appointed a choose of the apex court docket on August 13, 2014, has been a part of a number of landmark verdicts, together with the one which held the apply of divorce by way of instantaneous ‘triple talaq’ amongst Muslims unlawful and unconstitutional.
Whereas the then Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice S Abdul Nazeer have been in favour of placing on maintain the judgement for six months and asking the federal government to come back out with a legislation to that impact, justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, and Lalit held the apply as violative of the Structure. Justices Khehar, Joseph, and Nariman have since retired.
Just lately, a bench headed by Justice Lalit had assembled at 9.30 am, an hour sooner than the same old begin of working hours of the apex court docket, to listen to issues.
“For my part, ideally we should always sit at 9 within the morning. I’ve all the time mentioned that if our youngsters can go to high school at 7 within the morning, then why cannot we come at 9 am,” Justice Lalit had noticed.
On August 22, a bench headed by Justice Lalit fastened the Amrapali homebuyers matter for listening to from 10.30 am to 1 pm on September 3 (Saturday), which isn’t a working day within the prime court docket.
Quashing the controversial ‘skin-to-skin’ judgements of the Bombay Excessive Court docket in two instances beneath the POCSO Act, a bench headed by Justice Lalit had mentioned the excessive court docket erred in holding that there was no offence since there was no direct ‘skin-to-skin’ contact with sexual intent.
On the roadmap for the longer term, Justice Lalit has made his intentions recognized to work on three key areas throughout his quick tenure, together with itemizing of instances and mentioning of pressing issues within the Supreme Court docket.
On Friday, he had highlighted the three areas, saying he would try exhausting to make sure that at the very least one Structure bench of the highest court docket functioned all year long.
Talking at a operate organised by the Supreme Court docket Bar Affiliation (SCBA) to bid farewell to Justice Ramana, Justice Lalit mentioned he has all the time believed that the function of the highest court docket is to put down legislation with readability and the absolute best option to do it’s to have bigger benches as early as attainable in order that points get clarified instantly.
“So, we are going to try exhausting to say that sure, we are going to all the time have at the very least one Structure bench functioning all all year long.”
Justice Lalit mentioned one of many areas wherein he intends to work is concerning the itemizing of instances earlier than the Structure benches and issues, that are specifically referred to three-judge benches.
Throughout Justice Lalit’s tenure because the CJI, a number of vital instances, together with Structure bench issues, are more likely to come up for adjudication earlier than the apex court docket.
The highest court docket had just lately notified that 25 five-judge Structure bench issues could be listed from August 29.
Among the many vital five-judge bench issues which have been listed is a plea difficult the Structure (One Hundred and Third Modification) Act, 2019 which supplied reservation to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the problem to the WhatsApp privateness coverage, and the difficulty of parliamentarians or legislators claiming immunity from prison prosecution for taking a bribe to present a speech or a vote within the Home.
Born on November 9, 1957, Justice Lalit enrolled as an advocate in June 1983 and practised within the Bombay Excessive Court docket until December 1985.
He shifted his apply to Delhi in January 1986, and in April 2004, he was designated as a senior advocate by the apex court docket.
He was appointed a particular public prosecutor for the CBI to conduct the trial within the 2G spectrum allocation case.
In January 2019, he recused himself from listening to the politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute in Ayodhya.
Justice Lalit would be the sixth CJI to have a tenure of lower than 100 days.
Justice Kamal Narain Singh, who was the CJI between November 25, 1991 and December 12, 1991, had a tenure of 18 days.
Whereas Justice S Rajendra Babu had a tenure of 30 days between Could 2 and Could 31, 2004, Justice J C Shah was the CJI for 36 days between December 17, 1970 and January 21, 1971.
Justice G B Patnaik had a 41-day tenure from November 8 to December 18, 2002 and Justice L M Sharma had a tenure of 86 days between November 18, 1992 and February 11, 1993.
Printed on
August 27, 2022
