With just about one and a half months of working days at his disposal, Justice Lalit has a lot on the cards till retirement on November 8, the 49th Chief Justice of India, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, is looking at a tenure that is set to be a race against time. Especially given the holiday-heavy court schedule this time of the year.

Chief Justice of India is the highest and most sacrosanct constitutional post in India. CJI is not only inscribed with adjudication powers but also with administrative powers of the Supreme Court of India. Every administrative decision of CJI has the capacity to change the fate of the country. So, it is imperative that persons seated on the post carry the highest virtue of justice and discharge their duties.

While September is a full working month, the court is scheduled to work for only 14 days in October. However, if the CJI wills it and other judges co-operate, cases can be heard through the Dussehra and Diwali vacations. Chief Justice Khehar (as he was then) heard the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case through the summer vacations of the court in 2015.

Certain statements made by Chief Justice Lalit have suggested that he intends to meet head-on the challenges confronting the Supreme Court.

Race against time

The past few days have seen the new CJI provide glimpses into his plans. For one, he has listed 25 Constitution Bench cases for hearing from August 29, his first working day as the top judge. These include the challenge to the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 that provided for reservations for economically weaker sections, WhatsApp privacy policy issues, and pleas related to jallikattu.

Justice Lalit was sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on 27 August 2022. According to Article 124 of the Constitution, every judge of the Supreme court holds office until he attains the age of 65 years. Accordingly, born on 9 November 1957, CJI UU Lalit will hold office till 8 November 2022. In the very short tenure of 74 days, CJI UU Lalit seems firm in transforming the administrative functioning of the Supreme Court.

Putting a complete closure on the legal fight over the Babri Masjid demolition, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, dropped the contempt charges against Uma Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sadhvi Ritambara, Vinay Katiyar, and others. The Court said that the SC bench has already delivered its judgment on the Ayodhya matter and now things survive in this matter. The Court said, “There is a verdict delivered by a larger bench. Nothing survives in this matter now. You can’t keep flogging a dead horse..”.

In other matters, the SC also closed all proceedings pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots. Hearing the pending plea, the Court said the cases have now become infructuous with the passage of time. The SC bench said, “Trials in eight out of nine cases are over and final arguments are going on in one case in the trial court, Naroda Gaon Gujarat”.

Hearing a plea challenging the constitutional validity of polygamy and Nikah halala, the Supreme Court has sought a response from National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Women (NCW), and National Commission for Minorities (NCM). The plea was filed by a Supreme Court advocate, Ashwini Upadhyay, which sought to declare polygamy and Nikah halala among Muslims unconstitutional and illegal.

CJI’s Pledge to Transform the Supreme Court

In the farewell speech organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association for outgoing CJI NV Ramana, Justice Lalit had indicated to bring overhaul change in the Court system. He announced three major reforms. First, he will bring more transparency to the listing system. Second, a system will be envisaged for freely mentioning urgent matters before respective benches. And, third, he will strive to have one Constitution Bench functioning throughout the year.

Working on the pledge, the Supreme Court heard about 600 cases on a single day under the new CJI UU Lalit. Nearly 900 cases were listed on 29 August 2022. Out of which, around 592 were heard for the first time. The hearing was taken after the administrative decision of CJI UU Lalit to increase the listing of cases per bench in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has increased the average number of daily cases listed per bench to 60 from earlier 30. The 100% increase in the cause list is significant considering the pendency of cases in the Apex Court. CJI has taken this transformative decision within a few days of taking charge in the light of his earlier pledge.

Chief Justice Lalit has further promised that at least one Constitution Bench will function throughout the year.

The top judge has also assured transparency in the listing of cases so that lawyers are not kept in dark about the fate of their cases. He has promised lawyers that they would be given every opportunity to directly approach the Bench concerned to seek early hearings in cases seeking urgent relief, for example, bail pleas.

The CJI has already begun to address the alarming pendency of over 71,000 cases in the apex court by creating more Benches. He will soon have 15 Benches of two-judge combinations functioning from Tuesday to Thursday every week.

“I want all the 15 Benches functioning,” Chief Justice Lalit said.

However, it is to be seen whether he will use his short tenure to make any judicial appointments to the top court. Relatively short tenure of six months as the 41st Chief Justice of India did not stop Justice R.M. Lodha from successfully initiating the appointment of two senior advocates directly to the Supreme Court Bench, one of them being Justice Lalit himself.

However, Chief Justice Lalit may also leave it to Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who would be his successor as per the seniority norm and has a tenure of 24.5 months, to make appointments.

There are currently 30 Judges in the Supreme Court, four less than the total sanctioned strength of 34.

Justice Lalit’s case brings to the fore the debate on having a fixed tenure for Chief Justices of India. This would help them plan and put into action reforms. In fact, as of now, Justice Chandrachud would have the longest tenure among the next six Chief Justices of India. Justice B.V. Nagarathna, who is in line to be India’s first woman Chief Justice, would have a tenure of only a little over a month as a top judge.

In very few days, CJI UU Lalit has set the tone for the course of his tenure. Firm with his administrative abilities, CJI has resorted to transforming the functioning of the Supreme Court of India. It is said that the measure of a man is what he does with power. Justice UU Lalit’s tenure will be, similarly, measured on his performance in the office. If he succeeds in the promise he made, the tenure will be considered the golden period of the judicial system.

References:

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