India gets its 49th CJI! Justice U.U. Lalit sworn in as CJI

New Delhi, August 27: In a major development, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit tooks oath as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President of India Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Justice UU Lalit.

 

 

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union ministers were present at the ceremony.

 

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.

 

 

 

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).

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