Justice NV Ramana appointed as next Chief Justice of India

President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Justice NV Ramana as the 48th Chief Justice of India on Tuesday. He will take over as next Chief Justice of India (CJI) on April 24.

"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, The President is pleased to appoint Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief justice of India with effect from April 24," the Centre said in official notification.

Last month, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had recommended Justice N V Ramana as his successor after he retires.

Presently, Justice Ramana is the senior-most Supreme Court judge after the CJI. Notably, current CJI SA Bobde is due to retire on April 23.

Justice Ramana was appointed as a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 27, 2000. He also functioned as acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court from March 10, 2013 to May 20, 2013.

Thereafter, he was transferred to Delhi as its Chief Justice before he elevated to the Supreme Court. As a Chief Justice of India, he would have a tenure of sixteen months.

He has been the judge in the Supreme Court since February 17, 2014. He has also served as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) since November 27, 2019.

Justice Ramana had also worked as a journalist for a leading Telugu newspaper for a brief time before becoming a full-fledged lawyer. As a Supreme Court judge, Justice Ramana rendered many major judgments including to brought an end a year-long internet ban in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020 after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019.

Justice Ramana had said that the Internet ban in Jammu and Kashmir without limiting it to a particular duration is not only a violation of the telecom rules but also of the freedom of speech and expression granted by the Constitution.

In another judgement, Justice Ramana breathed transparency into the office of the Chief Justice of India and brought it under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.