Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has hailed the appointment of Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana as the next Chief Justice of India. In his first reaction on the appointment, Mehta said the incoming Chief Justice is fully equipped to meet all the challenges.
“Without going into the specifics, being at the top of one of the few largest justice delivery systems of the world and heading the most powerful constitutional court of the world has its own unforeseen challenges requiring delicate balancing apart from legal acumen. I am sure Justice Ramanna is fully equipped to meet all these challenges,” the SG said.
The Solicitor General said Justice Ramana will have to face the challenge of continuing to dispense justice amid the increasing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mehta said Justice Ramana, like his predecessors, has inherited huge arrears of cases that are mounting rapidly due to the closure of courts for a substantial period in 2020-21 throughout the nation as a result of the pandemic.
Besides huge pendency and successful docket management, Justice Ramana will have to face challenges like budget constraints in enhancing the judicial infrastructure amid the current economic situation faced by the world in general and India in particular, Mehta said. The new CJI will have to balance the health concerns of the bar and bench and simultaneously consider the plight of less privileged and young lawyers with empathy, he added.
Justice Ramana was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India by President Ram Nath Kovind on the recommendation of CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde, who is to retire on April 23. Justice Ramana will take oath on April 24.
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Justice Ramana had been elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on February 17, 2014, and will have his tenure as the country’s top judge for a year and four months till August 26, 2022. Before joining duty at the Supreme Court, he was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and the acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.