New Delhi, Aug 10: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was on Wednesday appointed as the 49th Chief Justice of India after President Droupadi Murmu signed his warrant of appointment.
He will assume charge on August 27 after incumbent N V Ramana demits office the day before.
"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 Lalit will have a brief tenure of less than three months. He will turn 65 on November 8 when he demits office.
Lalit is the second judge elevated directly from the bar to become chief justice of india. Justice SM Sikri was the first.
Maharashtra-born Lalit began his legal career in 1983. He practised in the Bombay High Court till 1985 and moved to Delhi in 1986.
In 2004, he became a senior Supreme Court advocate. Having experience in criminal law, he handled many high-profile cases. He has represented Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case.
Lalit has also served as the special public prosecutor in the 2G scam case.
He was appointed a Supreme Court judge in August 2014.
As an apex court judge, Lalit's landmark hearings include 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 recused himself from the Ayodhya 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 Lalit had reversed the Bombay High Court's controversial "skin to skin" ruling.
The High Court had held that “skin-to-skin contact” between an accused person and a child was required to make a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The Supreme Court had said the judgement would set a dangerous precedent.
In July this year, a bench comprising Justice UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha had sentenced fugitive tycoon Vijay Mallya to four month jail in contempt of court case. Mallya was held guilty of contempt for disbursing $40 million to his family members in violation of the court orders.
Comments
Add new comment