By Ritika Jain
Chief Justice of India UU Lalit's innings as the country's top judge came to an end on November 7, 37 years after he first stepped foot in courtroom number 1 – the court of the Chief Justice of India. Monday was CJI Lalit's last working day in court. His 74-day tenure ends Tuesday, a day before his 65th birthday.
"My journey in this court began through Court 1. I was arguing in Bombay and then I came here to mention it (the matter) before (then) CJI YV Chandrachud. My journey now ends here," CJI Lalit said while speaking from the customary ceremonial bench constituted in his honour.
"I now pass the baton to the son of that man himself and an eminent jurist...," CJI Lalit said referring to CJI-designate DY Chandrachud, ex-CJI YV Chandrachud's son.
On Wednesday, Justice Chandrachud will be sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India.
"The time always comes to an end," CJI Lalit had said to a young lawyer's plea to sit for an extra hour. "For me it has ended now, and I am sorry I cannot take these (pending matters) up now," he added.
A practicing lawyer at the Supreme Court before his elevation as a top court judge, CJI Lalit holds the distinction of not only being the second Chief Justice who was directly elevated as a top court judge from the bar, but he is also the first advocate on record to become CJI.
In his brief tenure, CJI Lalit accomplished more than his immediate predecessors during their tenures. CJI Lalit can be credited with overhauling the registry, live-streaming Supreme Court proceedings, and tackling the pendency of cases; but he will also be known for constituting the October 15 Saturday bench—as master of the roster—which stayed the Bombay High Court's acquittal of activist and ex-Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, who is paraplegic and disabled up to 90 percent.
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The soft-spoken judge with a calm demeanor
On Monday, shortly before court proceedings began for the day, CJI UU Lalit wanted to take a group photo with his colleagues. Twenty-eight Supreme Court judges came out on the vast concourse outside courtrooms one to five. However, before the pictures could be taken, CJI Lalit took a moment to apologize with folded hands to the advocates waiting in the Supreme Court corridors knowing his desired photo shoot would delay court proceedings which usually begin at 10:30 am sharp.
Ten minutes later, once all the customary photos were taken, including one with all those judges who will become CJIs, CJI Lalit once again thanked the accommodating lawyers.
"There are two exceptional things about CJI Lalit," senior advocate Siddharth Luthra told BOOM. "His calm demeanor and unflagging commitment to hard work; and his desire to do justice," Luthra said.
Calm and detail-oriented, CJI Lalit gave everyone before him a patient hearing. He allowed those before him time to complete their submissions even though there was a high possibility of their matter being dismissed. Members of the bar, and juniors who interned with CJI Lalit when he was a practicing advocate, do not recall him having raised his voice or losing his cool.
"If you have anything in substance, we are willing to hear you," CJI Lalit was often heard telling any counsel who had a matter before him.
On his last working day, CJI Lalit attempted to hear 60 matters on the board before him and was part of benches that gave five judgments.
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Hitting sixes in a T20 match
Keeping in line with CJI Lalit's love for cricket, almost all advocates—seniors and juniors—have likened his tenure to hitting sixes in a T20 match. The same analogy was also used to assess his accomplishments at CJI Lalit's informal farewell organized by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (SCAORA) on November 4. While speaking at the farewell on November 7, organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in his honour, CJI Lalit said, "Since I took over we disposed of 10,000 cases against a filing which was 8,700 and about 13,000 cases were disposed of which were lying in defects. So to a certain extent, we have taken a slice from the mounting arrears," he said.
"In a limited tenure, CJI Lalit ensured that crucial matters to be heard by Constitution Benches were taken up for consideration and were not only heard but will shortly continue into the tenure of his successor," senior advocate Siddharth Luthra said.
A day before he assumed office as the Chief Justice of India while speaking at ex-CJI NV Ramana's farewell, CJI Lalit stated three reforms he wished to introduce during his 74-day tenure. Transparency in listing cases, a system to freely mention urgent matters, and a permanent constitution bench throughout the year.
There is a near-unanimous belief that CJI Lalit managed a hattrick. Practicing advocates have welcomed the upheaval in the system of listing cases, though some of CJI Lalit's colleagues were unhappy with the move saying the new listing system did not give them enough time to hear matters. Almost 2000 cases have been cleared during CJI Lalit's 74-day tenure.
On the first Monday in court as CJI, there were almost 900 matters listed in the Supreme Court. An average of 90 matters were listed before 15 division benches. In his first working week as CJI, two five-judge Constitutional Benches heard at least eight matters and fixed timelines for final hearings in these cases.
This move was also in line with an August 24 notification announcing a plan to hear nearly 25 Constitution Bench matters.
Matters as old as 15 years were listed for hearing. According to statistics on the Supreme Court's website, there were 54 pending Constitution Bench matters. Today, former Attorney General KK Venugopal said during CJI Lalit's tenure, 24 of these matters before four Constitution Benches and of these four of them have been disposed of.
Bail matters pending for months on end were listed and heard.
Was it easy? CJI Lalit says no. "Everything is difficult," CJI Lalit told BOOM. "You have to make it look easy," he said on the sidelines of SCAORA's farewell held in his honour. "On such issues, you must take everyone with you. You can't do it alone," he said referring to his reforms. "Not everything is rosy," CJI Lalit had said.
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The AOR who became CJI
"CJI Lalit has by far been the Master who understood the roster best. His allocation of cases before benches were par excellence qualitatively and quantitatively to the extent that it kept the largely divergent sections of the Bar satisfied and even elated," advocate Sriram Parakkat told BOOM.
A practicing advocate said this was possible only because CJI Lalit was an Advocate on Record (AOR) himself. A practicing advocate with a minimum of seven years of work experience who passes the supreme court's qualifying exams is designated as an AOR. Only AORs (and petitioners in person) can file cases/pleadings in the Supreme Court.
This put him in a unique position to understand how the registry worked and could address the problems accordingly.
In fact, a bench comprising CJI Lalit and Justice Bela Trivedi had sought an explanation from registry officials on why a matter which was 'ready' for hearing was not listed for more than a year and a half.
Shortly after taking over when a matter was mentioned requesting against its deletion from the list, CJI UU Lalit told the advocate, "Dont worry, nothing will be deleted. In fact, we are looking for matters now."
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi concurred with the assessment of CJI Lalit so far and gives him "full marks on all points". "It is commendable that in his 74-day tenure, he has actually shaken the whole registry. It was in a comatose kind of mode, either because of the pandemic or under directions from previous CJIs," the ex-Attorney General said.
"CJI Lalit listed thousands of cases and people did not have to run around…Constitution Benches also sat and heard matters," he added. However, Rohatgi has only one grouse, "I think there was only one thing which I feel he did not try, something he himself said – starting courts at 9 am. I think it would have been great if he had managed to do this…something like that would've given lawyers more time to prepare for cases," he added.
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Criminal law expert, the judge who sought reforms
CJI Lalit is an expert on criminal law. Thus, most of the judgments authored by him are mostly matters pertaining to criminal law. The bench led by CJI Lalit gave bail to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan—who has already spent more than two years in jail—and activist Teesta Setalvad.
While granting Kappan bail, CJI Lalit remarked: "Every person has the right to free expression. Is that a crime in law? He is trying to show that victim needs justice and raise a common voice. Will this be a crime in the eyes of the law?"
On a side note, Kappan is still in jail for a different but related matter.
In Setalvad's case—advocates are of the opinion the Setalvad bail order needs to be studied on how bail orders should be written—CJI Lalit highlighted the Gujarat High Court's delay in hearing the matter and remarked that as a lady, the accused was entitled to preferential treatment and bail.
And yet, despite all his achievements CJI Lalit will also be known for constituting the special bench comprising Justices MR Shah and Bela Trivedi to hear an urgent appeal against activist GN Saibaba's acquittal from the Bombay High Court. The Supreme Court's Saturday hearing was unusual and unprecedented in its own right since it heard matters on a non-working day to suspend a discharge or acquittal. Advocate Gautam Bhatia in his blog wondered if CJI Lalit's achievements on the administrative front, overshadow his handling of the Saibaba case which resulted in the deprivation of personal liberty.
There could be no "ill-motive per se", Rohatgi said on CJI Lalit's decision to constitute a special bench on October 15, a Saturday and non-working day. "But, a case like this should not have been listed on a Saturday, it was not appropriate at all for a matter like this," he added.
When pressed on CJI Lalit's decision to appoint Justices Shah and Trivedi—traditionally not holding rosters for criminal matters—to hear the Saibaba case, which is considered to be politically sensitive, Rohatgi said it does not matter and all judges can hear any issue.
CJI Lalit was elevated to the top court as a judge in 2014. According to the Supreme Court's website, CJI Lalit has been part of benches that delivered 656 judgments; 55 of them when he was CJI.
On his last working day, CJI Lalit concurred with Justice S Ravindra Bhat's dissenting and minority opinion in the judgment where the Centre's 10 percent quota for the economically weaker section was held constitutional by a 3:2 majority. This was perhaps one of the rare instances where a CJI held a minority opinion.
Before assuming the mantle of the top judge, Justice Lalit, as he then was, had lamented on the practice of judges imposing capital punishment on the same day a person was convicted of the crime. The CJI Lalit-led bench took up the issue and sought opinions on a uniform guideline to be followed before imposing the death penalty. The bench then referred the matter to a larger five-judge bench and acknowledged that the current practice placed "a convict at a hopeless disadvantage, tilting the scales heavily against him".
