Chief Justice S.A. Bobde has recommended to the Centre to appoint Justice N.V. Ramana as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after he retires. Chief Justice Bobde will retire on April 23.
Justice Ramana was appointed to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2014. Justice Ramana will take over as the Chief Justice on April 24.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday reportedly sent a letter to Justice Bobde, seeking his recommendation. The government has asked him to recommend his successor.
According to a source familiar with the development, Chief Justice Bobde sent a letter to the Centre confirming Justice Ramana as the next Chief Justice.
Justice Ramana will have a tenure of over 16 months as the Chief Justice.
As per the Memorandum of Procedure governing the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office".
Justice NV Ramana is the most senior judge in the Supreme Court after Chief Justice Bobde.
Justice Ramana was born on August 27, 1957, will have a tenure as the country's top judge for a year and four months, till August 26, 2022.
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Justice Ramana was born in an agricultural family in Andhra Pradesh and was appointed as a permanent judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court in June 2000. Before being promoted to the Supreme Court in February 2014, he had served as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
Justice Ramana was a part of the bench that directed that suspension of the internet in Jammu and Kashmir should be reviewed immediately. He was also part of the panel of judges which held that the Chief Justice's office comes under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.