Justice NV Ramana appointed as next CJI; tenure to begin from April 24

President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind appointed Justice NV Ramana, whose full name is Justice Nuthalapathi Venkata Ramana, as the 48th Chief Justice of India (CJI) today. Justice NV Ramana has received the Warrant of Appointment and a copy of the Notification of Appointment. His tenure will start from April 24, 2021 and last till August 26, 2022.

According to protocol, "senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office" should be appointed to the office of the Chief Justice of India. Justice Ramana's appointment as CJI was recommended by the sitting CJI SA Bobde, who is scheduled to retire on April 23, on March 24. The CJI had sent a letter regarding the same to the government and handed a copy of recommendation written by him to Justice Ramana.

Who is Justice NV Ramana?

Justice NV Ramana is a first-generation lawyer who belongs to an agricultural family in Ponnavaram Village in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district. He specialises in constitutional, civil, labour, service and election matters.

Justice Ramana was first called on to the Bar on February 10, 1983 and has practiced in Andhra Pradesh High Court, Central and Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunals and the Supreme Court of India. Besides this, he has also practiced before Inter-State River Tribunals.

The jurist has also served as a Panel Counsel for Various Government Organisations and as Additional Standing Counsel for Railways in the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad before becoming the Additional Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh. Justice Ramana was also appointed as a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in June 2000.

Before his appointment to the apex court in 2014, Ramana had also served as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. Justice NV Ramana is currently the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court after CJI Bobde. The jurist has also served as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee from March 7, 2019 to November 26, 2019. The judge has also served as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) since November 27, 2019.

Justice NV Ramana's important cases

Justice Ramana has various landmark cases and judgments in his kitty. The judge was an important part of the bench that ruled in favour of reviewing restrictions on internet connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370. He was also part of the panel that held the Chief Justice's office comes under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Besides this, Justice Ramana was also instrumental in a 2016 judgment quashing the decision of the Arunachal Pradesh Governor to defer the Assembly session. He was also part of a bench that passed a judgement wherein the value of woman's work at home was considered equal to that of a husband's work in the office.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

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