National News

President Ram Nath Kovind appoints Justice NV Ramana as the next CJI

Supreme Court judge, Justice NV Ramana has been formally appointed as the next Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.

Sentinel Digital Desk

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge, Justice NV Ramana has been formally appointed as the next Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday.

Justice Ramana will assume charge as the 48th CJI on April 24, a day after the retirement of incumbent CJI SA Bobde.

An official notification, due to published in the Gazette of India, and signed by Barun Mitra, Secretary to the Government of India stated, "In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 24th April, 2021."

A month before the retirement of Bobde, he has recommended Justice NV Ramana as his successor. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a letter to Justice Bobde sought his recommendation for the appointment of the next CJI. Bobde who served as the 47th Chief Justice of India was sworn in November 2019, succeeding Justice (retired) Ranjan Gogoi.

Justice Ramana has been part of several key cases, including a bench that ruled that suspension of Internet in Jammu and Kashmir should be reviewed immediately. He was also part of the panel of judges which held that the Chief Justice's office comes under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He previously served as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in June 2000. Later he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in 2013, Soon after he was elevated to the Supreme Court in February 2014.

Justice NV Ramana happens to be the most senior judge in the Supreme Court after Chief Justice Bobde. Born on August 27, 1957, Justice Ramana will have a tenure as the country's top judge for a year and four months, till August 26, 2022.