A month to go for his retirement, the Government on Friday wrote to Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit to recommend his successor. Justice Lalit will retire as the CJI on November 8 after a brief tenure of 74 days.
"As per the MoP on appointment of Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court Judges, today the Hon'ble Minister of Law and Justice sent a letter to the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India for sending his recommendations for appointment of his successor," the Ministry of Law and Justice said in a tweet, which many believe is the first such instanc.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), the CJI names the senior-most judge as his or her successor. The MoP is a document which guides the appointment and transfer of Supreme Court and high court judges.
Justice D Y Chandrachud is the senior-most judge after the CJI. Going by the established practice and convention, Justice Chandrachud would be the 50th CJI and take oath on November 9.
He would have a tenure of two years and demit office on November 10, 2024. While Supreme Court judges retire after attaining the age of 65, high court judges retire at 62 years.
Incidentally, Chief Justice Lalit's move to get four Supreme Court appointments cleared by circulating a written proposal has been opposed by two members of the collegium
"Appointment to the highest constitutional office and as judges of the highest court should never be done through circulation," the judges are said to have maintained. Once he names his successor, he cannot clear any more appointments, sources said.
