"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.
Earlier today, top officials of the department of justice, along with principal secretary to the prime minister P K Mishra met Justice Lalit and handed over the warrant of appointment.
Here is all you need to know about Justice Uday Umesh Lalit:
Uday Umesh Lalit shifted his practice to Delhi in January 1986, and in April 2004, he was designated as a senior advocate by the apex court. He was appointed a special public prosecutor for the CBI to conduct trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
He was appointed a special public prosecutor for the CBI to conduct trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
On 13 August, 2014, he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court
Lalit was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court on August 13, 2014. Since then, he has been involved in delivery of several landmark judgements of the apex court, including the one which held the practice of divorce through instant triple talaq among Muslims illegal and unconstitutional.
In the triple talaq verdict, while the then CJI J S Khehar and Justice S Abdul Nazeer were in favour of putting on hold the judgement for six months and asking the government to come out with a law to that effect, justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman and Lalit held the practice as violative of the Constitution.
Justice Lalit will be the second CJI who was directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar. Justice S M Sikri, who became the 13th CJI in January 1971, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the top court bench in March 1964.
(With inputs from agencies)
