Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana has less than a month left of his tenure which saw a flurry of judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and High Courts, hard-hitting speeches by the CJI along with timely interventions by the top court.
He retires on August 26.
However, there is no word in the public domain about the beginning of the process to appoint his successor.
As per the seniority criterion, Justice U.U. Lalit is in line to be the 49th CJI. Justice Lalit, if appointed, would have a tenure of hardly three months. He retires on November 8, 2022.
The 'Memorandum of Procedure of Appointment of Supreme Court Judges' says "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office".
The process, according to the Memorandum, begins with the Union Law Minister seeking the recommendation of the outgoing CJI about the next appointment
The Minister has to seek the CJI's recommendation "at the appropriate time". The Memorandum does not elaborate or specify a timeline.
However, if past changes in guard at the top judge post were to be seen, the Law Minister had sought the recommendation and the outgoing CJI had sent his reply with a month to spare for the latter's retirement day.
The Memorandum says that "after receipt of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs will put up the recommendation to the Prime Minister who will advise the President in the matter of appointment".
