CJI N V Ramana recommends Justice U U Lalit as his successor

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Thursday set in motion the process of appointment of his successor by recommending the name of Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, the most senior judge, to the Centre.

The CJI personally handed over the copy of his letter of recommendation to Justice Lalit.

Justice Ramana, the 48th chief justice of India who took over as head of the Indian judiciary from S A Bobde on April 24, 2021, is scheduled to demit office on August 26 after a tenure of over 16 months.

Justice Lalit, who would be appointed head of the judiciary on August 27, will have a tenure of less than three months as the chief justice of India. He retires on November 8 this year.

According to the convention, the CJI recommends the name of the senior-most judge as the successor. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit is next in seniority to Ramana.

As per the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which governs the process of appointment of judges in higher judiciary, the outgoing CJI initiates the process of naming the successor after getting a communication from the Law ministry.