New Delhi3 hours agoAuthor: Pawan Kumar
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Supreme Court Chief Justice NV Ramana retired on Friday. In his place, Justice UU Lalit will now take oath as the 49th Chief Justice on Saturday. Justice Lalit will retire on November 8 this year. That is, his tenure as CJI will be only 74 days. During this, he will have a challenge to settle 492 constitutional cases pending in the Supreme Court.
According to the Supreme Court website, there are another 71,411 cases pending in the court till August 26. These include cases like Article 370, Demonetisation, CAA, Electoral Bonds, UAPA and Sabarimala. Justice Lalit, a criminal law expert, became a judge of the Supreme Court from the bar on 13 August 2014. He is the second judge from the bar to become the CJI.
Justice Lalit has promised three important reforms on Friday. These include the timely listing of cases, the creation of a new system for mentioning urgent matters and the creation of more constitutional benches.
Supreme Court proceedings live for the first time
For the first time, the proceedings of the last day of work of CJI Ramana were live on behalf of the Supreme Court Registry. Before the farewell ceremony, the Chief Justice told the lawyers present in the courtroom, I am sorry for not paying attention to the issues of listing and posting. Indian judiciary moves with the waves of democracy. It cannot be defined by a single order or decision.
Ramana said – There is no shortcut to success.
Giving advice to the lawyers, he said, there is no shortcut to success. In the farewell ceremony organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association, he said- I saw electricity in the village for the first time at the age of 12. At the age of 17, he led 10 thousand laborers. Nowadays lawyers get chambers. I used to stand under the tree and talk to the client. Only a lawyer can understand how much struggle there is in the life of a judge.
Justice Lalit to become CJI only for 74 days
At present, Justice Lalit, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, will become the CJI only for 74 days, as he will retire on November 8. Justice Lalit enrolled as an advocate in June 1983. He practiced in the Bombay High Court till December 1985, then transferred the practice to Delhi in January 1986.
He was nominated by the Supreme Court as Senior Advocate in April 2004. He was appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor for the CBI to hear all 2G cases under the orders of the Supreme Court. Justice Lalit was also a member of the Supreme Court of India Legal Services Committee for two terms.