The President of India Ram Nath Kovind today appointed Justice NV Ramana as the 48th Chief Justice of India, accepting the recommendation made by the outgoing CJI SA Bobde, who is retiring on April 23.
“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,” an official notification, due to published in the Gazette of India, and signed by Barun Mitra, Secretary to the Government of India, read.
Justice NV Ramana will serve as the CJI until 26 August 2022. Before his promotion to the Supreme Court in February 2014, Justice NV Ramana had served as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
The decision to anoint Justice NV Ramana came after departing CJI Bobde endorsed him as his successor. CJI Bobde had suggested Justice NV Ramana’s candidature after the law ministry had requested him to recommend his successor in accordance with the memorandum of procedure (MoP) for the appointment of the judges in the Supreme Court.
Born in an agricultural family in Ponnavaram Village, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, Justice NV Ramana enrolled as an advocate on February 10, 1983, and practiced in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Central and Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunals and the Supreme Court of India in Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Labour, Service and Election matters. He has also served as the Additional Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh.
In June 2000, he was appointed as Permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He functioned as Acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court from March 10, 2013, to May 20, 2013.
Justice NV Ramana was recently in the news after the Supreme Court had dismissed a complaint filed by the Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy in which he alleged that Justice NV Ramana was interfering with the State Judiciary in politically sensitive matters. Following a confidential in-house enquiry, the top court dismissed the Andhra Pradesh CM’s complaint.