CJI Lalit takes many historic steps in first month in office

On September 27 which marked a month of him taking oath, eight lakh viewers tuned into the first ever live session to watch proceedings that were going on before three constitution benches.
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit signs the register after his swearing-in ceremony as Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. (File Photo | PTI)
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit signs the register after his swearing-in ceremony as Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. (File Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI: Within a month of CJI UU Lalit being appointed as the 49th CJI, country’s top court along with lawyers, journalists and the common man has witnessed many unprecedented moves in the judiciary. On August 27, when he had assumed office, Lalit had big plans lined up in his short tenure which was a race against time.

To fulfill his promises, Lalit since his first day has been diligently taking constructive steps in quick succession by introducing a prompt and systematic listing of cases. He also brought in a new system as per which judges on non-miscellaneous days (NMD’s) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday firstly take up old cases in the morning session and then fresh cases in the post lunch session.

Various important matters of constitutional and national significance such as the pleas challenging constitutionality of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, Centre’s demonetisation policy of 2016 and constitution bench issues such as challenge to WhatsApp’s privacy policy which were lying in judicial dockets since many years in one month of him taking charge as the head of SC could see the light of the day.

On September 27 which marked a month of him taking oath, eight lakh viewers tuned into the first ever live session to watch proceedings that were going on before three constitution benches. This was only possible when all SC judges in the full bench meeting headed by CJI Lalit unanimously agreed to live stream constitution bench cases of constitutional and national importance. It was on that day that SC’s ruling where it allowed live streaming of its hearings had observed that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” could be implemented in its truest sense.

During the tenure of Justice Bobde and Justice Ramana it was challenging to get matters listed, said SC Bar Association president and senior advocate Vikas Singh. Speaking to this newspaper he said, “The bar is very happy that the matters are getting listed which, but now the matters are at least getting listed.”

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