Justice Uday Umesh Lalit Appointed 49th CJI: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit will be the second Chief Justice who was not a judge in any High Court before becoming a judge of the Supreme Court.
New Delhi: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit has been appointed as the next Chief Justice (CJI) of the Supreme Court. He will be the 49th CJI of the country. Justice Lalit will take over as the new Chief Justice of the country on August 27. Recently, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court NV Ramana recommended the name of Justice Uday Umesh Lalit as his successor. NV Ramana is retiring from his post on 26 August.
It has been a tradition that the then CJI has to recommend the name of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as his successor. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit comes second in the order of seniority after Justice NV Ramana. He had reached this position directly from the lawyer. Before him in 1971, the 13th Chief Justice of the country SM Sikri had this achievement.
It is known that Justice Uday Umesh Lalit recused himself from the bench hearing the Ayodhya case in January 2019. During this, he had argued that he had been the lawyer of former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in a criminal case related to the Ayodhya dispute 20 years ago. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit is known for his gentle nature.