The President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday appointed Justice NV Ramana as the 48th Chief Justice of India. Outgoing Chief Justice of India Justice SA Bobde had recommended Justice Ramana’s name as his successor. Justice Bobde will be retiring on April 23 and Justice NV Ramana will take oath on April 24. He will be in office until August 26, 2022.
In a notification dated April 6, Barun Mitra, Secretary to the Union government, said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 24th April, 2021.”
It was in 2014 that Justice Ramana was elevated to the Supreme Court. Earlier, he was serving as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. On March 24, Chief Justice SA Bobde officially recommended Justice Ramana as his successor. Born on August 27, 1957, Justice Ramana will have a tenure of nearly 16 months as the CJI before he retires on August 26, 2022.
The Notification appointing Justice NV Ramana as the 48th Chief Justice of India.#SupremeCourt #JusticeNVRamana https://t.co/FaECplxHOx pic.twitter.com/5PKldg1zlO
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) April 6, 2021
In October last year, in an unprecedented and controversial move, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in a letter to Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had made serious allegations against Justice Ramana. Chief Minister Jagan had alleged that Justice Ramana has been “influencing” the functioning of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, to act in favour of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
The Supreme Court issued a statement on March 24, the same day CJI Bobde recommended Justice Ramana as his successor, which said that Jagan’s charges against Justice Ramana have been dismissed. In a note uploaded to the website, the Supreme Court said, “A complaint dated 6 October, 2020 sent by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to the Supreme Court was dealt with under the In House Procedure and the same, on due consideration, stands dismissed." The notice added, "It be noted that all the matters dealt with under the In-House Procedure being strictly confidential in nature, are not liable to be made public."