There have been innumerable cases where deserving judges have been overlooked and mediocre judges elevated to the Supreme Court because of their rapport with the consultee judges
New Delhi, Aug. 27 (PTI): Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court, was on Saturday sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India (CJI). President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Justice Lalit, who is the second CJI to be directly elevated to the apex court from the Bar, during a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. As the CJI, Justice Lalit will have a short tenure of 74 days and demit office on November 8 on attaining the age of 65 years. Justice D Y Chandrachud, the senior-most judge after Justice Lalit, is next in line to be the country’s top judge. Justice S M Sikri, who became the 13th CJI in January 1971, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the top court in March 1964. “Congratulations,” President Murmu said after Justice Lalit signed the register of oath. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former president Ram Nath Kovind, former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu and Union ministers i