Justice UU Lalit takes oath as 49th Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi, August 27: President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of India to Justice Lalit at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the morning hours on Saturday.
Justice UU Lalit succeeds Justice NV Ramana, who retired on August 26.
In accordance with custom and seniority norms, Justice Ramana recommended Justice Lalit as his successor. Following that, the President confirmed Justice Lalit's appointment as the new CJI.
Justice Lalit will serve as the head of India's judiciary for a brief tenure of 74 days and would demit office on 8 November.
On Friday, during Justice Ramana's farewell celebration, Justice Lalit stated that during his nearly three-month tenure, he will focus on three main areas, with one of his top priorities being to make the listing of cases as simple, clear, and transparent as possible.
Justice Lalit has also pledged to establish a clear regime in which any urgent matters can be raised before the respective benches of the top court.
He assured that the Supreme Court would have at least one Constitution Bench operating throughout the year.
Justice Lalit further said, "I have always believed that the role of the Supreme Court is to lay down law with clarity, 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 immediately, the matter has consistency and the people are well aware of what exactly are the contours of the peculiar positions in law."
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Justice Lalit will become the second Chief Justice of India to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court from the Bar after Justice SM Sikri, who served as the 13th CJI in 1971.
Justice Lalit has served as a member of Supreme Court Legal Services Committee for two terms. Justice UU Lalit has to his credit several landmark judgments.
Born on November 9, 1957, in Solapur, Maharashtra, Justice Lalit was enrolled as an advocate by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in June 1983. He practised in the High Court of Bombay till December 1985 before shifting his practice to Delhi in January 1986.
He worked in the chambers of S. Soli J. Sorabjee from October 1986 till 1992 and was on the panel of lawyers for the Union of India during the period Soli J Sorabjee was Attorney General for India.
From 1992 to 2002, he practised as advocate on record and was designated as senior advocate by the Supreme Court in April 2004. He was also appointed amicus curiae in many important issues, including forest matters, vehicular pollution, pollution of Yamuna etc.
He was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor for the CBI under the orders of the Supreme Court to conduct trial in all 2G matters.
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-PTC News
