Satya Prakash
New Delhi, August 3
The Centre today wrote to Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, asking him to recommend the name of his successor.
Justice Ramana, who took over as the 48th CJI on April 24, 2021, is due to retire on August 26. He is expected to recommend the name of Justice UU Lalit — the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court — as his successor. Appointed judge of the Supreme Court on August 13, 2014, Justice Lalit would retire on November 8.
Generally, the Centre writes to the CJI requesting him to recommend his successor a month before his retirement. However, this time, the process has been delayed, leading to certain speculations.
The convention of the CJI recommending the seniormost SC judge as his successor was not followed only twice — first when Justice AN Ray was appointed as the CJI on April 25, 1973, superseding three seniormost judges and the second time when Justice MH Beg was appointed the CJI on January 29, 1977, superseding Justice HR Khanna.
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