Justice Uday Umesh Lalit Appointed As 49th Chief Justice Of India

Last week, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana recommended the name of Justice Lalit as his successor to the Union Law Minister.

Justice UU Lalit will take over as the Chief Justice of India after Justice NV Ramana retires later this month ( Image Source :ANI )

The government on Wednesday issued a notification appointing Justice Uday Umesh Lalit as the 49th Chief Justice Of India. Last week, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana recommended the name of Justice Lalit as his successor to the Union Minister for Law and Justice. Justice Ramana is set to demit office on August 26.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 27 August, 2022," a Law Ministry notification said.

Justice UU Lalit, who is the senior most judge in the Supreme Court, is the second CJI to be directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar. Justice SM Sikri, who became the 13th CJI in January 1971, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the Supreme Court bench.

Justice Lalit, who hails from Maharashtra, will have a short tenure of less than three months as the Chief Justice of India. Justice Lalit will retire on November 8.

The shortest tenure for a CJI so far has been 17 days, served by Justice Kamal Narain Singh in 1991. After Justice UU Lalit, Justice DY Chandrachud is next in line to become the CJI for two years.

Who Is Justice UU Lalit?

Justice Lalit was a senior advocate at the Supreme Court before being appointed as a judge on August 13, 2014, LiveLaw reported. His father, Justice UR Lalit, was a renowned counsel and a Delhi High Court judge.

Justice Lalit, who was born on November 9, 1957, became an attorney in June 1983 and practised in the Bombay High Court till December 1985. In January 1986, he relocated to Delhi. From 1986 to 1992, he worked for former Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee. He was appointed a Supreme Court judge in August 2014.

Justice Lalit's landmark hearings included the triple talaq case. He was part of a five-judge bench that, by a 3-2 majority in 2017, ruled that the practice was illegal and unconstitutional.

He had recused himself from the Ayodhya Ram Mandir title suit hearing because he had appeared for former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh in a case related to the Babri Masjid demolition.

Last year, a bench led by Justice Lalit had overturned the Bombay High Court's controversial 'skin to skin contact' ruling. The court ruled that any physical contact with a juvenile with "sexual intent" was an offence under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act even if there was no direct touch with skin.

He also presided over the bench that ordered the erstwhile royal family of Travancore to take over control of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, one of the richest temples. The bench held that the rule of heritability must get attached to a right of Shebait (servitor) of the temple.