Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde on Wednesday recommended Justice NV Ramana as his successor. CJI SA Bobde is due to retire on April 23.
The development comes after the Centre asked CJI SA Bobde to recommend his successor. The CJI handed over a copy of the recommendation letter to Justice Ramana after sending it to the Centre.
CJI SA Bobde was sworn in as the 47th Chief Justice of India in November 2019, succeeding Justice (retired) Ranjan Gogoi.
Justice NV Ramana is the senior most judge in the Apex court after Justice Bobde.
Justice Ramana, born on August 27, 1957, will have a tenure as the CJI till August 26, 2022.
Justice Ramana, who was appointed as a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in June 2000, served as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court before being elevated to the Supreme Court in February 2014.
As per the procedures for the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, “the 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”.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure governing the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, the law minister puts the CJI recommendation before the prime minister who advises the President in the matter of appointment.