N.V. Ramana: 48th Chief Justice of India

• 26 Mar 2021

Why in News

N.V. Ramana, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, has been recommended as the next top judge by the present Chief Justice of India (S A Bobde).

• Justice Ramana will take over as the 48^th Chief Justice of India (CJI) from 24^th April 2021. He would be the CJI till 26^th August, 2022.

Key Points

• Appointment of the CJI:
  
  • The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.
  • As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
    
    • The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the Prime Minister who, in turn, advises the President.
  • SC in the Second Judges Case (1993), ruled that the senior most judge of the Supreme Court should alone be appointed to the office of the CJI.
  • The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other senior most judges of the court.
    
    • The collegium system is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the Supreme Court (Judges Cases), and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.
• Administrative Powers of CJI (Master of Roster):
  
  • It is common to refer to the office as primus inter pares – first amongst equals.
  • Besides his adjudicatory role, the CJI also plays the role of the administrative head of the Court.
  • In his administrative capacity, the Chief Justice exercises the prerogative of allocating cases to particular benches.
  • The Chief Justice also decides the number of judges that will hear a case.
    
    • Thus, he can influence the result by simply choosing judges that he thinks may favour a particular outcome.
  • Such administrative powers can be exercised without collegial consensus, and without any stated reasons.
• Recent Development:
  
  • In 2019, the SC ruled that the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

Source: TH