Chief Justice of India (CJI) Designate Justice UU Lalit today said that ,although his tenure is for a period of 74 days(his retirement is due on November 8, 2022) he will mainly focus on three important areas , which include – listing of cases, mentioning of urgent matters, Constitution benches.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) had organised a ceremony for CJI NV Ramana on his retirement from office today. During the farewell the members discussed CJI’s achievements which were many, they also discussed about several important judgements and matters that were looked by him.
Justice Lalit who is going to take over the charge from him said that what stood the most was the 250 High Court appointments he made during his time in office and his push for better judicial infrastructure.
Talking about the role he would now play in the shoes of CJI, Justice UU Lalit said that in his time, along with carrying the legacy, he will make listing of cases as simple as possible. He also promised to try for establishing a precise regime to govern mentioning of urgent matters.
In his words, Justice UU Lalit mentioned that:
(1) Listing of cases, I assure that we will make listing as simple as clear and as transparent as possible.
(2) Area of mentioning urgent matters…we will look into this and very shortly you can have a clear cut regime where any urgent matters can be freely mentioned before any respective courts.
(3) Next is constitution bench and three judge bench matters as I believe job of Supreme Court is to lay down law in clear cut terms so that people are aware of peculiar positions in law. He said we will strive to have one constitution bench functioning throughout the year.”
On a lighter note Justice Lalit, said that his major concern is on how he will fit in the shoes of CJI Ramana, pointing to his immense popularity reflected in some of the speeches given in court earlier today.
He ended his speech by saying “This is the real tribute … it is the most fitting tribute.