UU Lalit Swears In As 49th Chief Justice of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Justice UU Lalit

(Photo: The Quint)

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was sworn into his role as the 49th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, on Saturday, 27 August.

President Murmu administered the oath of office at the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Lalit had been appointed as the CJI by the President on Wednesday, 10 August, and is succeeding Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, who retired on 26 August.

Lalit will have a short tenure of two and a half months as CJI as he is due to retire on 8 November 2022.

More About Justice UU Lalit

He is reported to have been the sixth senior advocate in the country to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court of India, and only the second CJI who was directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar.

Lalit's grandfather was a lawyer in Maharashtra's Solapur. His father, Umesh Ranganath Lalit, was a lawyer as well who later served as additional judge of the Bombay High Court.

UU Lalit joined the bar in 1983.

Notable judgments passed by him during his tenure as a judge at the Supreme Court include those in the triple talaq case, in which a five-judge constitution bench, by a 3-2 majority, ruled the practice of divorce through instant 'triple talaq' as "void," illegal," and "unconstitutional."

He is also credited with having clarified the most important ingredient as sexual intent and not skin-to-skin contact under Section 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.