JUSTICE RM LODHA TO BE NEXT CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA
Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India. He will take over from current incumbent P Sathasivam on April 27. Lodha will have a brief tenure of five months as he is scheduled to retire in September.
Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India. He will assume his charge on April 27, a law ministry release stated on Friday.
Justice Lodha, who replaces the current CJI P Sathasivam, will have a brief tenure of five months and will retire on September 27, 2014. He is handling many sensitive cases, including those relating to coal scam and the CBI’s autonomy.
Lodha ordered curbs on the sale of acid in open market to check acid attacks on women. He has also been monitoring a PIL on condition of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
Born on September 28, 1949 in Jodhpur, Lodha enrolled himself as an advocate with Bar Council of Rajasthan in February 1973 and practised law in the Rajasthan high court dealing with cases in all branches of law — constitutional, civil, company, criminal, taxation and labour.
He was elevated as a permanent judge of the Rajasthan high court in January 1994 and transferred to the Bombay high court a month later.
In February 2007, justice Lodha was transferred back to the Rajasthan high court, where he served as the administrative judge of the high court as also the chairman of state judicial academy.
He was sworn in as chief justice of the Patna HC on May 13, 2008 and elevated as a judge of the SC on December 17, 2008.