Justice N.V. Ramana set to take over as 48th Chief Justice of India

Andhra CM complaint against judge dismissed, says CJI Bobde.

Supreme Court Judge Justice N.V. Ramana. File

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde has recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, as the next top judge.

The CJI’s recommendation to the government was followed by the publication of a short statement on Wednesday informing that a complaint sent by Andhra Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy against Justice Ramana to the CJI on October 6 last year was dismissed under an in-house procedure after due consideration.

 

“A complaint dated October 6, 2020 sent by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to the Supreme Court was dealt with under the In-House Procedure and the same, on due consideration, stands dismissed. It be noted that all the matters dealt with under the In-House Procedure being strictly confidential in nature, are not liable to be made public,” the statement published in the Supreme Court’s official website said.

Mr. Reddy had complained that Justice Ramana was influencing the Andhra High Court judiciary to destabilise his government. The complaint was sent shortly after a Bench led by Justice Ramana started hearing and fast-tracking hundreds of criminal cases against Ministers, legislators and politicians pending in trial courts across the country.

In an affidavit filed with election nomination papers in 2019, Mr. Reddy had declared there were 31 criminal cases pending against him with the CBI, the Directorate of Enforcement and different police stations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Justice Ramana is now set to take over as the 48th Chief Justice of India from April 24.

Chief Justice Bobde handed over a copy of his letter of recommendation to Justice Ramana on Wednesday after sending it to the government.

The Centre had recently asked Chief Justice Bobde, who is retiring on April 23, to initiate the transition process to the top judicial office.

Justice Ramana would be the CJI till August 26, 2022. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2014 when he was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.

Justice Ramana was born in an agricultural family on August 27, 1957 in Ponnavaram village in Krishna district.