Uday Umesh Lalit, the 49th Chief Justice of India, will face many obstacles, from important constitutional issues to the selection of judges, but he will also be able to draw on a century’s worth of personal experience.
The Maharashtrian Lalit family has been around for 102 years and counting. Prior to India’s independence, Ranganath Lalit, his grandpa, practised law in Solapur. Three generations will be present when Justice UU Lalit takes the oath of office as CJI on Saturday.
Umesh Ranganath Lalit, his 90-year-old father, will be in attendance. After a lengthy career as an attorney in his native state, the veteran served as a high court judge.
The couple’s two kids, Harshad and Shreyas, as well as Justice Lalit’s wife Amita Lalit, who manages a school in Noida, will also be there. While both boys pursued engineering degrees, Shreyas Lalit subsequently chose to pursue a career in law. Raveena, his wife, is also a lawyer. In addition to being a scholar, Harshad Lalit resides in the US with his wife Radhika.
UU Lalit’s familial legacy did not guarantee him success right away. He moved his business from the Bombay High Court to Delhi in the 1980s, and when he initially settled there, he resided in a two-room apartment in the working-class Mayur Vihar neighbourhood.
His expertise in criminal matters quickly made him a senior advocate in the Supreme Court.
The court designated him as Special Public Prosecutor in the 2G spectrum allocation case, which was one of the high-profile cases he participated in.
He received his appointment as a Supreme Court judge from a lawyer in August 2014. As CJI, he is just the second such judge. Despite this, he will only hold office for 74 days.
Along with overseeing affairs on the bench, he will lead the collegium that names judges nationwide.
