Justice Lalit takes over as CJI, has plan to cut caseload ready | India News

NEW DELHI: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit on Saturday became the 49th Chief Justice of India, with President Droupadi Murmu administering his oath of office in the presence of the Vice-President, the Prime Minister and other dignitaries.
He is the second Chief Justice to be directly elevated as Supreme Court judge from the bar and subsequently given charge of the country’s judiciary as its head; the first was Justice S M Sikri.
Justice Lalit’s tenure will last for only 74 days, and he will demit office on November 8 upon retirement.
Despite the short tenure, the CJI is determined to take the problems faced by the judiciary head-on and has chalked out a plan to reduce pendency and ensure speedy disposal of constitutional matters. The most pressing problem facing the judiciary now is the huge pendency of cases, which has touched the five-crore mark, including 71,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court. The pendency problem has worsened because of the Covid pandemic.
With the pandemic situation easing and courts functioning with full strength, Justice Lalit has decided that maximum number of benches will sit on Mondays and Fridays in Supreme Court so that maximum number of fresh matters could be heard and disposed of. The apex court under his leadership will also give priority to decide constitutional matters which is the primary task of the Supreme Court, and constitutional benches will be formed to decide the cases.
Known for his humbleness, cool temperament, and for giving the most patient hearing to all lawyers, whether one is seasoned or appearing for the first time in court, Justice Lalit will also have to deal with the issue of listing of cases as his predecessor also accepted that he did not do enough to sort out the problem of some cases being listed out of turn while others remaining in queue.
Another issue close to Justice Lalit’s heart is to spread legal awareness among people and provide legal aid to the poor and the underprivileged. He travelled across the country with this “mission” as executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). He launched the Legal Aid Defense Counsel (LADC) system in 365 districts in 22 states across India to extend free legal aid to the poor.
Born in a lawyer family on November 9, 1957, he enrolled as an advocate in 1983 and practised in Bombay high court. He shifted to Delhi in 1986. He was designated in 2004 as senior advocate by the Supreme Court, which also appointed him as special public prosecutor for CBI to conduct trial in all 2G matters. He was appointed Supreme Court judge in 2014.