Justice UU Lalit took oath as 49th Chief Justice of India today. He was administered the oath by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers were present at the ceremony. Justice Lalit's predecessor, Justice N V Ramana, was also present.
Justice Ramana had recommended Justice Lalit as his successor in keeping with convention and norms of seniority. The President subsequently confirmed Justice Lalit's appointment as the new CJI.
Justice Lalit will have a brief tenure of 74 days as the head of India's judiciary and would demit office on 8 November.
On Friday, August 26, at the farewell function of Justice Ramana, Justice Lalit said that during his tenure of nearly three months he will focus on three key areas and one of his top priorities would be to make the listing of cases simple, clear and as transparent as possible.
Justice Lalit has also promised to ensure a clear-cut regime where any urgent matters can freely be mentioned before the respective benches of the top court.
He assured that there will be at least one Constitution Bench functioning throughout the year in the Supreme Court.
Justice Lalit was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court directly from the Bar on August 13th, 2014. In May 2021, Lalit J got appointed as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).
Justice Lalit will become the second Chief Justice of India to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court from the Bar, after Justice S.M. Sikri, who served as the 13th CII in 1971.
Justice Lalit has served as a Member of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for two terms and has to his credit several landmark judgments.
With inputs from agencies
