Senior advocate Uday Umesh Lalit became the sixth lawyer on Wednesday to be directly elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
Mr. Lalit was sworn-in by the Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha, along with Chief Justices of Gauhati, Jharkhand and Meghalaya High Courts at a brief ceremony held in the First Court hall. The three CJs are: Abhay Manohar Sapre; R. Banumathi and Prafulla Chandra Pant.
With their appointment the strength of judges in the apex court has risen to 30 as against the sanctioned strength of 31. There is no representation for SC/STs after the retirement of Justice K.G. Balakrishnan in 2010.
The previous list of five lawyers appointed as Supreme Court judges are: Justice S.M. Sikri in 1963; Justice S.C. Roy who was appointed in 1971 died after holding the post for four months; Justice Kuldip Singh in 1988, after a gap of 15 years; Justice Santosh Hegde in January 1999 and Justice Rohinton Nariman in July this year.
Mr. Lalit, who hails from Maharashtra joined the Bar in June 1983 is practising in the apex court since 1986. He will have a tenure of about eight years, including about months as the Chief Justice of India in 2022 after the retirement of Justice N.V. Ramana.
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, who hails from Madhya Pradesh became a Judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1999. Initially he was appointed Chief Justice of Manipur and later shifted to Gauhati High Court as its Chief Justice. He will have a tenure of over five years.
Justice R. Banumathi, who hails from Tamil Nadu was elevated as Judge of the Madras High Court on April 3, 2003 and elevated as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court in November 2013. She will be first woman judge from Tamil Nadu to occupy the highest judicial office. She will have a tenure of over six years.
Justice Prafull Chandra Pant, who hails from the then undivided Uttar Pradesh became a Judge of Uttarakhand High Court in 2004. He was appointed Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court from September 2013. He will have a brief tenure of little over three years.
