Who is CJI UU Lalit? Know all about the 49th Chief Justice of India, his path-breaking verdicts

Justice Lalit enrolled as an advocate in 1983 and practised in the Bombay High Court till December 1985 before shifting to Delhi the next year. Between 1986 and 1992, he worked with the late Attorney General Soli Sorabjee. He became an SC lawyer in April 2004. Justice Lalit was also special public prosecutor for the CBI in the 2G spectrum allocation case. He was elevated to SC judge directly from the Bar on August 13, 2014.

Law is a professional that runs in Justice Lalit’s family. His grandfather Ranganath Lalit was a lawyer based in Solapur in pre-independent India. His 90-year-old father Umesh Ranganath Lalit was an additional judge in the Delhi High Court at the time when the Indira Gandhi government imposed emergency in 1975. Like his father, Justice Lalit specialises in criminal law. Both have practised in the SC.

Before Justice Lalit, the only other CJI to have been a lawyer directly elevated to SC bench was Justice SM Sikri, the 13th CJI in 1971.

CJI Lalit outlined his focus areas - Striving hard to ensure that at least one Constitution bench was functioning in the top court throughout the year, making listings “simple, as clear and as transparent as possible”.

Due to retire on November 8 when he reaches the retirement age for SC judges of 65, Justice Lalit’s short tenure has some important matters lined up. These include Constitution bench matters. 25 five-judge Constitution bench matters would be listed in SC from August 29. AMong these are an Act that provided reservation to Economically Weaker Sections, challenge to the WhatsApp privacy policy and issue of parliamentarians or legislators claiming immunity from criminal prosecution for taking bribe to give speech or vote in the House.

In over 8 years as an SC judge, CJI Lalit has been part of several monumental verdicts including holding practice of instant 'triple talaq' illegal and unconstitutional, management rights over historic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala, one of the richest temples in India, of erstwhile royal family of Travancore, and observing what is 'sexual intent' amounting to 'sexual assault' under section 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO). He recused himself from hearing the politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute in Ayodhya in January 2019. 

READ | Jharkhand political crisis: JMM MLAs likely to be moved to Chhattisgarh after meeting with CM Soren

(Photos, inputs: PTI, IANS, ANI)