Chief Justice of India NV Ramana completes One Year in office
The Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana has never shied away from the fact that he studied English only till class eight and that "receiving both flower bouquets and some not so pleasant remarks" is a part and parcel of public life.
Born into an agricultural family on August 27, 1957 in Ponnavaram Village, Krishna District, Justice Ramana enrolled as an Advocate in 1983. He was appointed as a permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 27, 2000 and functioned as Acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court from March 10, 2013 to May 20, 2013. Justice NV Ramana was appointed as the Chief Justice last year on April 24, 2021. He was elevated as a Judge, Supreme Court of India with effect from February 17, 2014.
It is to be noted that Justice Ramana took oath as the CJI when the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was raging in the country. It was during his tenure that the third wave raged and subsided. The Chief Justice himself was affected by the pandemic earlier this year and told the open court that he was suffering from its side effects, 25 days after recovering.
As Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana completes one year in the office, LawBeat looks back on important issues deliberated upon by the Chief Justice led bench.
[Pendency in Bail Matters] CJI led bench decided to take up a Suo Motu Writ Petition concerning Pendency in Bail Matters. A 3-judge bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice Nageswara Rao and Justice AS Bopanna will be hearing the matter tomorrow, as per Supreme Court cause list dated July 16, 2021.
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[Doctors are Gods] Addressing the medical fraternity on Doctors' Day and launching the ''Defeat Diabetes Campaign'' initiated by the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes, the CJI emphasized on the role played by doctors and called them “God” and “Goddesses” condemning the brutal attack on them while on duty.
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[Hijab Ban] Refused to interfere in the matter pertaining to Hijab Ban, while the Karnataka High Court had decided the same, the CJI remarked “Don't spread these things to a larger level.” He further said “You have to think if you want to bring this to Delhi on a national level.”
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[Media and communal tone] While hearing a plea seeking directions for curbing the hate which was allegedly met out against the Tablighi Jamaat during the Covid pandemic by news channels, Chief Justice of India expressed his displeasure over the communalising of news & information by a certain section of private news networks.
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[Police officials and loyalty to political parties] hearing a petition filed against an order of Chattisgarh High Court which declined to quash FIR against a police official in a Sedition Case, the CJI said, "State of affairs in the country is sad. When a political party is in power, “State of affairs in the country is sad. When a political party is in power, Police Officials side with it and when a new party comes into power, the government initiates action against those officials – This is a new trend, which needs to be stopped,”
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[Efficacy of Covaxin] Speaking at the awards ceremony organised by DR. RAMINENI FOUNDATION, the CJI came down heavily on those who doubted the efficacy of COVAXIN. He spoke on how COVAXIN has been proven to be effective against even the new variants of COVID-19. The CJI also expressed his regret about how many people unnecessarily doubted the efficacy of the indigenous vaccine and even went as far as complaining to the World Health Organisation (WHO) about it.
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[Attacks on Judges] Delivering his address at the Telangana Judicial Officers Conference, the CJI informed that he is doing his utmost to prevent the attack on judges. He said, “I am aware of the increasing physical attacks on judges. I am doing my utmost to prevent such occurrences. Directions were issued to improve the security of judicial officials both inside and outside Courtrooms.”
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[Amazon-Future dispute] Disposing of a Special Leave Petition seeking resumption of arbitral proceedings between Amazon and Future Retail Limited, the Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana had remarked “I hope, I don’t get to hear any other matter pertaining to this dispute during my tenure as the Chief Justice.”
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[Indianisation of Legal system] During his address at an event organised by the Karnataka State Bar Council to pay tributes to Late Mr. Justice Mohan M Shantanagouda, the Chief Justice of India said that there was a need to adapt to the practical realities of our society and localise our justice delivery systems. “Very often our justice delivery poses multiple barriers for the common people. The working and the style of Courts do not sit well with the complexities of India”, he said.
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[Government’ trend of maligning Judges] While hearing a plea by State of Chattisgarh, challenging the order of the High Court which quashed an FIR against former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Aman Kumar Singh, registered under Prevention of Corruption Act, the CJI remarked, “There is a new trend that the government has started maligning judges. It’s unfortunate! Earlier it used to be done by private parties, now the government is also doing it.
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[Krishna and Kurukshetra war] Speaking at an event on “Mediation and Information Technology” at Ekta Nagar, Narmada, Gujarat the CJI remarked, “I always quote this mythological story. It is of Lord Krishna’s efforts to mediate before the Kurukshetra war. Imagine how these kingdoms would have prospered if the mediation had succeeded.”
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[Suo motu Lakhimpur Kheri] A CJI led bench had asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to file a status report on the issue of Lakhimpur Violence - the names of those arrested as well as the status of investigations. The Court also sought a status report on the PILs filed before Allahabad High Court on the violent incidents that ensued on October 3, 2021.
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[Language of the courts] The CJI while speaking at an event in Madras High Court on April 23, 2022 remarked that The parties must understand developments in their case, the language of the court should not be like Mantras in a wedding which most of us don’t understand,” Click here to read more