Justice UU Lalit has been named the 49th Chief Justice of India by the Central government. The Chief Justice of India is a highest-ranking officer of the Indian federal judiciary.
Profile of Justice UU Lalit:
Justice UU Lalit enrolled as an Advocate in June, 1983. He practiced in the High Court of Bombay till December, 1985 before shifted his practice to Delhi in January, 1986. Designated as Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court in April, 2004.
He served as member of Supreme Court of India Legal Services Committee for two terms.
He was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor for CBI to conduct trial in all 2G matters under the orders of the Supreme Court. Notably he worked in the chambers of Shri Soli J. Sorabjee from October 1986 till 1992 and was on the panel of lawyers for Union of India during the period Shri Soli J. Sorabjee was Attorney General for India.
| Judge Name | Hon’ble Mr. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit |
| Designation | Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India |
| Date of Birth | 9th November, 1957 |
| Tenure Starts as CJI | 27th August, 2022 |
| Tenure Ends as CJI | 8th November, 2022 |
| Appointed as Supreme Court Judge as on | 13th August, 2014 |
| Salary | Rs. 2,80,000/- p.m. |
| Appointed by | Smt. Droupadi Murmu (The President of India) |
Constitutional Provision:
1. As per Article 124(2), the President shall appoint the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme Court.
2. As per Article 124(2)(a), Judges may resign their office by addressing to the President in writing.
3. As per Article 124(4), a judge of supreme court can be removed from his office by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament (i.e. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) with required majority on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.
4. As per Article 126, when the office of Chief Justice of India is vacant by whatsoever reason, the President may appoint any one of the other judges of the court as an acting Chief Justice to perform duties.
5. As per Article 60, the Chief Justice of India administers the oath of the office of the president of India.
6. As per Article 146, the Chief Justice of India shall appoint the officers and servants of the Supreme Court.
In addition to above, the Chief Justice of India can discharge the functions of President in case of vacancies in the offices of both the President and the Vice-President by whatsoever reason as per THE PRESIDENT (DISCHARGE OF FUNCTIONS) ACT, 1969.
Basis of appointment as a Chief Justice of India:
As per Memorandum of procedure of appointment of Supreme Court Judges, appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office. The Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs would, at the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.
1. Whenever there is any doubt about the fitness of the senior most Judge to hold the office of the Chief Justice of India, consultation with other Judges as envisaged in Article 124 (2) of the Constitution would be made for appointment of the next Chief Justice of India.
2. After receipt of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs will put up the recommendation to the Prime Minister who will advise the President in the matter of appointment.
Justice UU Lalit 49th Chief Justice
Justice UU Lalit high-profile cases:
As an Advocate –
- Represented Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case.
- Served as the special public prosecutor in the 2G scam case.
- Appeared as Amicus Curiae in many matters including Forest matters, Vehicular Pollution, Pollution of Yamuna etc.
As a Judge –
- Justice Lalit’s landmark hearings include the “triple talaq” case where he was part of a five-judge bench that by a 3-2 majority in 2017 ruled that the practice was “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.
- Hearings of “skin-to-skin contact” case between an accused person and a child was required to make a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
- Heard Vijay Mallya contempt of court case where he found guilty.
Focus areas of our new CJI
- Listing of matters before constitutional benches and the matters specially referred to 3 Judge benches:
“So, we will strive hard to say that yes, we will always have at least one Constitution bench functioning all throughout the year”
- Issues arise on listing of matters:
“I must assure you that we will strive hard to make the listing as simple, as clear, and as transparent as possible”
- Mentioning of urgent matters:
“I will have a word with all my learned colleagues on the bench and we will certainly sort that out and very shortly, you will have a clear-cut regime where any urgent matter can freely be mentioned before the respective courts”