JUSTICE RAMANA TAKES OATH AS CJI
Has been a part of several landmark judgments, underscoring constitutional rights, democratic values, and accountability
Justice NV Ramana was on Saturday sworn in as the 48th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Ram Nath Kovind during a small ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan owing to Covid restrictions.
Justice Ramana, whose tenure will be until August 26, 2022, succeeds justice SA Bobde. He is the first judge from the Andhra Pradesh high court to become CJI.
At the farewell of justice Bobde on Friday, justice Ramana paid his tribute to all those who lost their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic and implored people to exercise utmost caution against the spread of the infection. “During these unprecedented times, some strong measures are necessary to break the cycle,” he said.
NEW DELHI: Justice NV Ramana was on Saturday sworn in as the 48th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Ram Nath Kovind during a small ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan owing to Covid restrictions.
Justice Ramana, whose tenure will be until August 26, 2022, succeeds justice SA Bobde. He is the first judge from the Andhra Pradesh high court to become CJI.
At the farewell of justice Bobde on Friday, justice Ramana had paid his tribute to all those who have lost their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic and implored the people to exercise utmost caution against the spread of the infection.
“We are going through testing times. The country as a whole is battling the severest second Covid wave. The virus does not make any distinction. During these unprecedented times, some strong measures are necessary to break the cycle. I request everyone to cooperate in implementing these measures,” he said.
“We can defeat this pandemic together with discipline, dedication and cooperation with each other and with authorities. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost their loved ones due to virus... We are undoubtedly living in hard times. However, I believe that these circumstances will compel us to emerge stronger than ever before. Let us be strong and overcome this together,” justice Ramana had asserted.
Justice Ramana was born to a family of farmers at Ponnavaram village in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district. He fought for civil liberties during the Emergency and lost an academic year.
Justice Ramana worked as a journalist from 1979 to 1980 and reported on political and legal matters for the Eenadu newspaper. He enrolled as an advocate in 1983 He was appointed as a permanent judge of the high court in 2000. Justice Ramana was elevated as chief justice of the Delhi high court in 2013 and to the Supreme Court a year later.
He is seen as a conventional judge, who is restrained in his speech. He is known to talk less and for clarity of thought in his orders and judgments and adhering to the principle of judicial discipline and the rule of precedent.
Justice Ramana has been a part of several landmark judgments, underscoring constitutional rights, democratic values, and accountability. In his judgments in the cases of Anuradha Bhasin and the Foundation for Media Professionals, he ruled that access to the internet is a fundamental right by extension while pulling the government up for the telecommunications blackout in Jammu & Kashmir after the nullification of the region’s semi-autonomous status. The judgments also laid down certain parameters on curfews. They held that Section 144 of the CrPC, which bans assembly of over five people, cannot be used to suppress the legitithis mate expression of opinion or grievance or exercise of democratic rights.
Similarly, as part of a five-judge bench in Subash Chandra Agarwal’s case, justice Ramana emphasised that the right to information and right to privacy are on an equal footing.
Justice Ramana delivered the 2019 verdict related to the Karnataka assembly, clarifying the legal position that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule for defection could not operate as a bar for contesting elections again. Simultaneously, he lamented “a growing trend of the Speaker acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral” and implored presiding officers to check horsetrading and corrupt practices associated with defection and change of loyalty for the lure of office or other wrong reasons.
In the Shiv Sena vs Union of India case, justice Ramana followed the precedent of ordering an immediate floor test in the Maharashtra assembly to prevent horse-trading in 2019. Justice Ramana in January ordered fixing a notional income for nonearning homemakers in insurance claim cases. Not a single judge was appointed to the top court during justice Bobde’s 14-month tenure as the CJI. All eyes will be on the new CJI to fill up the current vacancies of six judges in the Supreme Court.The SC currently has just one woman of the sanctioned strength of 34.