NEW DELHI: Outgoing Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit Monday said he has been able to fulfil the promises made by him to a certain extent, including making at least one Constitution bench functional at all times, streamlining the listing patterns and reducing pendency of cases in the Supreme Court.
Justice Lalit, who had a short tenure of 74 days as the head of the judiciary, is set to demit the office at the age of 65 years on November 8 which is a court holiday.
Speaking at a farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Justice Lalit said from the day he took over as the CJI, they have disposed of over 10,000 matters in the apex court and an additional 13,000 matters that were lying due to defective petitions were also disposed of.
As I stand before you, I remember certain promises which I made when I took over as the Chief Justice of India.
“And I had said that I will try to streamline the listing patterns, I will see that atleast one Constitutional bench is functioning all through and I will see that regular matters are listed at an expedited date and the mentioning part. I must say that to a certain extent I have been able to fulfil those promises, he said.
He said on the day he was sworn in as the CJI, he had a full court meeting with all other judges and they started with a strength of 30 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 34.
Today we are 28, tomorrow we may be 27. So I just divided 30 by number 5 and said that six Constitution benches are possible. So one to six, we decided that all 30 judges will be part of some Constitution bench or the other and in the shortest possible time we could have the six benches rolling.
This is what I thought that in this court we have to have at least one Constitution bench functioning at all times and I must say on a particular day there were three Constitution benches in courts 1, 2 and 3 simultaneously functioning and that is when we started our live streaming functioning, Justice Lalit, who became the 49th CJI with effect from August 27, said.
He said he has spent 37 years in the Supreme Court, out of which 29 years as an advocate and the last eight years as a judge, and it has been a very fulfilling and satisfying journey for him.
The farewell function was also attended by CJI designate, Justice D Y Chandrachud, other Supreme Court judges, law officers, Justice Lalit’s family members, SCBA office bearers and advocates.
Recalling his first appearance in the apex court, he said he had come to the Supreme Court to mention a matter for urgent listing before then chief justice Yeshwant Vishu Chandrachud, father of Justice D Y Chandrachud.
I am passing on the baton which I received through successive chief justices on to the son of that illustrious chief justice, Justice Lalit said.
He said that during his tenure as the CJI from August 27 till today, they have been able to dispose of over 10,000 matters in the apex court as against the filing which is about 8,700.
The fresh filing is about 8,700 about 1300 matters are disposed, more than the filing which means that to a certain extent we have been able to take the slice out the mounting arrears, he said.
He said three-judge combination benches were also started during his tenure and when he took over, there were 55 death reference matters out of which hearings have been complete in four cases and judgements delivered in two matters.
All this was possible only because of the tremendous amount of support from my brother and sister judges and equal support from the bar. I know I made certain demands which were slightly tough.
“Matters were getting listed perhaps at shorter notice but everybody rose to the occasion and as if it was on a mission mode and we have been able to accomplish that. I am thankful to all my colleagues on the bench and lawyers who were party to it, Justice Lalit said.
On the work pressure, he said, As they say law is a jealous mistress, so she demands time every time. And the casualties are your family members.
I went to the court on the last day of my father being a judge, I saw the hustle and bustle, the lawyers, the way they address and I said this is where I would like to be and that’s what started as a journey, he added.
Justice Lalit became the second CJI to be directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar.
Justice S M Sikri, who became the 13th CJI in January 1971, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the top court bench in March 1964.
Justice Lalit, who was a senior advocate before being appointed a judge of the apex court on August 13, 2014, was born on November 9, 1957. He was enrolled as an advocate in June 1983 and practised in the Bombay High Court till December 1985.
He shifted his practice to Delhi in January 1986, and in April 2004, he was designated as a senior advocate by the apex court. He was appointed a special public prosecutor for the CBI to conduct the trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case. (PTI)