President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice NC Ramana as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). Justice Ramana will be sworn in as the 48th CJI on April 24, a day after the retirement of incumbent CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde. He will have a term of 16 months, till August 26, 2022.
CJI Bobde, who succeeded Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the country’s topmost judge in November 2019, nominated Justice Ramana as his successor last month, in keeping with convention and norms of seniority.
Born in an agricultural family in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, on August 27, 1957, Justice Ramana will be the second Chief Justice of India from Andhra Pradesh.
Ramana enrolled as an advocate on February 10, 1983 and has practiced in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and in central and Andhra Pradesh administrative tribunals.
As per his profile on the official website of the Supreme Court, he was "appointed as a permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 27, 2000. He functioned as acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court from March 10, 2013 to May 20, 2013." it further reads.
He was elevated as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in 2013 and as a judge in the top court in 2014.
The 63-year-old was part of a bench that ruled that suspension of Internet in Jammu and Kashmir should be reviewed immediately. He was also part of the panel of judges which held that the Chief Justice's office comes under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Two weeks ago, the top court had dismissed the complaint made by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy to the incumbent CJI that Justice NV Ramana was interfering with the state judiciary in politically sensitive cases.
