Justice Uday Umesh Lalit: From 2G to triple talaq

CHENNAI: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was on Wednesday appointed as the 49th Chief Justice of India, on Wednesday.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana recommended the name of Justice Lalit as his successor to the Union Law Minister. The government accepted the recommendation as Ramana is set to retire on August 26.

What do we know about Justice Lalit?

Justice Lalit, a senior judge in the Supreme Court, was appointed directly from the Bar Council. He will serve as the Chief Justice of India for three months. After serving as the 49th Chief Justice of India for 74 days, he will step down from his position on November 8, 2022.

Justice Lalit enrolled as an advocate in June 1983. He practised in the High Court of Bombay from 1983 to 1985 and worked as an attorney for the former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee from 1986 to 1992.

He was named a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court in 2004 and had a specialisation in criminal law. Under the Supreme Court's directives, he conducted trials in all 2G cases as the Special Public Prosecutor for the CBI. Additionally, he participated in the Legal Services Committee of the Supreme Court for two periods.

Lalit was appointed as the special public prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the 2G spectrum cases by a Supreme Court bench of Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly in 2011. The court stated that Lalit's appointment was "eminently suitable" in the interest of a fair prosecution of the case.

On August 13, 2014, Lalit J was appointed as a Supreme Court judge after being advanced immediately from the bar. He was also named executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority in May 2021. (NALSA).

The "triple talaq" case was one of Lalit's historic hearings as an apex court judge. He was a member of the five-judge panel that, by a vote of 3-2, declared the practice to be "illegal" and "unconstitutional" in 2017.

As he represented former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in a matter involving the destruction of the Babri Masjid, he withdrew from the Ayodhya hearing.

In the history of direct elevations to the Supreme Court, Justice Lalit is the sixth senior counsel.