Chief Justice of India UU Lalit. (Express photo by Renuka Puri)With a month left before Chief Justice of India (CJI) U U Lalit retires, the government on Friday started the process of appointment of the next CJI with Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asking the incumbent to recommend his successor.
“As per the MoP on appointment of Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court Judges, today the Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice sent a letter to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for sending his recommendations for appointment of his successor,” the Union Ministry for Law and Justice said.
As per the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) governing the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, “appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office”.
Justice D Y Chandrachud is the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court. If appointed, he will have a tenure of over two years as CJI till November 10, 2024.
The MoP stipulates that the law minister would, at an “appropriate time,” seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next CJI. Under this process, after receipt of the recommendation of the CJI, the law minister puts it before the Prime Minister who advises the President on the matter of appointment. This process is conventionally done a month before the retirement of the incumbent CJI. CJI Lalit retires on November 8.
After the recommendation process, once a new CJI is designated, as per convention, the collegium headed by the outgoing CJI also freezes. This means that till Justice Chandrachud takes over as CJI, the four names proposed by CJI Lalit on September 30 for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court are likely to be put on hold.