The Hindu : National : Justice Lahoti will be CJI for 17 months

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 26, 2004

National

National

Justice Lahoti will be CJI for 17 months

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, MAY 25. The President has appointed Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the 35th Chief Justice of India with effect from June 1. He will succeed Justice S. Rajendra Babu, who retires on the forenoon of June 1 after a brief tenure from May 2. Mr. Justice Lahoti will have a tenure of 17 months.

Enrolled in 1961, Mr. Justice Lahoti was recruited to the higher judicial service in 1977 but he resigned the post in 1978 and started independent practice.

He was elevated as Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 1988 and in February 1994, he was transferred to the Delhi High Court. In 1995, he was appointed by the Supreme Court as the one-man Enquiry Commission to investigate the claims of frustrated buyers of flats from Skipper Construction Co. Ltd.and more than 800 claims were investigated within 12 months.

In November 1996, Mr. Justice Lahoti was appointed to probe the causes of a mid-air collision between Saudi Arabian Boeing 747 and Kazakhastan IL-76 at Charkhi-Dadri (near Delhi) and make recommendations for avoiding such accidents in the future. He completed the probe in a record time of eight months and both the Commissions were conducted without suspending his normal judicial work. He was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court on December 9, 1998. As Supreme Court Judge, Mr. Justice Lahoti had given several landmark judgments. In the Tirupati Balaji Developers Pvt. Ltd. vs State of Bihar, Mr. Justice Lahoti pulled up the Patna High Court for questioning the authority of the Supreme Court in seeking certain information about a pending case. He reminded the High Court that constitutional authorities should not overstep their limits so that the ideals and values remained a living reality and did not become an intrusion or an illusion.

In P. Ramachandra Rao vs State of Karnataka, Mr. Justice Lahoti observed that the goal of speedy justice could be achieved by a combined and result-oriented collective thinking and action on the part of the legislature, the judiciary, the executive and the representative bodies and members of the Bar.

Mr. Justice Lahoti displayed his concern for children in Rohit Singal's case when he said that "children are not only the future citizens but also the future of the earth.

Elders in general, and parents and teachers in particular, owe a responsibility for taking care of the well being and welfare of children." In the case of Javed vs State of Haryana, Mr. Justice Lahoti upheld a law disqualifying those with more than two children from standing for panchayat elections holding that the right to contest an election was not a fundamental right or a common law right.

Technicalities have never been accepted by Mr. Justice Lahoti as obstructing the smooth flow of justice and he is known for giving a patient hearing and treating with respect and courtesy lawyers and litigants appearing in the court.

A robust common sense, insight into law, the courage of conviction and a humane approach are the hallmark of his judgments.

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