Tanisha Rana
Published on: November 8, 2022 at 20:56 IST
On Tuesday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Uday Umesh Lalit’s last working day, there were some powerful and emotional scenes on the court campus as the CJI decided to kneel before the Supreme Court stairs going up to the Court of CJI.
Today evening, Justice Lalit, who has spent his final 37 years in the Supreme Court—the first 29 of those as a lawyer and the last 8 as a judge—took one last tour of the building.
A retired Supreme Court judge is not permitted to continue practicing law in any court after leaving office.
The Chief Justice of India proceeded to the flight of stairs leading to the first five court rooms after engaging in informal conversation with reporters covering the Supreme Court.
Before entering the CJI court and engaging in a brief conversation with court officials, he first knelt before the stairs and then rose.
On November 9, 1957, Justice Lalit was born. He began practising law before the Bombay High Court in June 1983 and did so through December 1985.
In January 1986, he moved his practise to Delhi, and the Supreme Court named him a Senior Advocate in April 2004.
He was appointed Special Public Prosecutor for CBI to conduct trial in all 2G matters per the instructions of the Supreme Court and appeared as Amicus Curiae in numerous cases.
He served two terms on the Supreme Court of India’s Legal Services Committee.
On August 13, 2014, he was chosen to serve as a Supreme Court of India’s justice.
With effect from August 27, 2022, he was elevated as Chief Justice of India.