CJI tenure

CJI tenure

Subject : Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context: Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday, will demit office on November 8 with a tenure of 74 days.

• Article 124 of the Constitution of India, caps the age of retirement for Supreme Court judges at age 65.
• So, each Chief Justice’s tenure begins from the date of his/her elevation to the date of his/her retirement.
• As a result, the tenure of each CJI is predicated upon their age at the time of their appointment to the Supreme Court, their rank in seniority and their date of elevation as the Chief Justice.
• In the US, Supreme Court judges leave office only by death, or when they themselves, alone and individually, resign.
• In order to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court, a person must be a citizen of India and must have been, for at least five years, a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession, or an Advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession for at least 10 years or he must be, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.

Article 124 in The Constitution Of India 1949

• Establishment and constitution of Supreme Court

(1) There shall be a Supreme Court of India constituting of a Chief Justice of India and, until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number, of not more than seven other Judges

(2) Every Judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty five years.

Supreme Court judges retire on attaining the age of 65 while high court judges retire at 62.

CJI with tenure less than 100 days

• Justice Kamal Narain Singh, who was the CJI between November 25, 1991 and December 12, 1991, had a tenure of 18 days.
• Justice S Rajendra Babu had a tenure of 30 days as the chief justice of India between May 2, 2004 and May 31, 2004.
• Justice J C Shah had a tenure of 36 days when he was the CJI between December 17, 1970 and January 21, 1971.
• Justice G B Patnaik had a 41-day tenure as the head of the Indian judiciary when he held the office of the CJI from November 8, 2002 to December 18, 2002.
• Justice L M Sharma had a tenure of 86 days as the CJI when he was in office between November 18, 1992 and February 11, 1993.