N. V. Ramana

From 1979 to 1980, Ramana was a journalist for the Eenadu newspaper.[9] He enrolled as an advocate on February 10, 1983. He practiced in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Central and Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunals and the Supreme Court of India, handling civil, criminal, labor, service and election matters. He also handled a number of constitutional matters, including federal river disputes in India. Ramana was a counsel for several government organizations during this time, including an appointment as an additional standing counsel for the Central Government and a standing counsel for the Indian Railways in the Central Administrative Tribunal at Hyderabad. He has also functioned as the Additional Advocate General for the state of Andhra Pradesh.[10]

Ramana became a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on 27 June 2000. On 2 September 2013, he was appointed the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and on 17 February 2014 he became a judge in the Supreme Court of India. In March 2021, then Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde of the Supreme Court recommended him as his successor to the post of chief justice.[4] Ramana was appointed the 48th Chief Justice by President Ram Nath Kovind on 6 April 2021, taking his oath of office at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 24 April 2021.[2][3] He retired on 26 August 2022. He was succeeded by Justice U.U. Lalit.[11]

Chief Justice N. V. Ramana administering the oath of the office to the elected president Droupadi Murmu

His tenure as chief justice saw an increase in judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and high courts, which brought down vacancies to their lowest since 2016.[12] He allowed exclusive online access to the media to attend court proceedings.[13]

He also did key judicial interventions in many cases. Some notable ones are: putting sedition law on hold,[14] cancelling the bail granted to Ashish Mishra in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case,[15] setting up a panel to investigate the Pegasus case in which the bench said that the Union government did not cooperate in the investigation,[16][17] and his judgement that a woman's household labor is equivalent to an office going man.[18] As Chief Justice he constituted a 3 judge panel presided by him to look into a petition challenging a 2013 Supreme Court verdict which held the practice of political parties distributing private goods like televisions, laptops, etc. as not a corrupt practice and considered them to come under the directive principles, while the petitioners considered them to be "irrational freebies".[19][20]

He was criticized for not initiating a judicial review in any of the cases which require a constitutional bench. 53 such cases were pending when he retired. Some of the pending cases of importance include, a challenge to Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, a challenge to Electoral Bonds scheme, the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and Karnataka hijab ban.[21]

While speaking at a lecture on "Democracy: Role and Responsibilities of Investigative Agencies", he discussed the evolution of the police system in India from the British period. As time passed he noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has "come under deep public scrutiny". According to Ramana, through "actions and inactions" CBI has often raised "questions on its credibility". He said it was the need of the hour to "reclaim social legitimacy and public trust" and the first step to that "is to break nexus with political and executive".[22]

He said, "The image of police is tarnished by allegations of corruption etc... often police officers approach us saying they are being harassed with change in power… The political executives will change with time. You are permanent", "There is an immediate requirement for the creation of an independent umbrella institution, so as to bring various agencies like the CBI, SFIO, ED, etc. under one roof. This body is required to be created under a statute, clearly defining its powers, functions and jurisdictions. Such a law will also lead to much needed legislative oversight,".[22]

He suggested that the proposed independent and impartial authority, should be "appointed by a committee akin to the one which appoints the Director of the CBI. The head of the organisation can be assisted by deputies who are specialists in different domains".[22]

While speaking at the All India District Legal Services Authorities meet as the Chief Justice he highlighted the fact that only a small percentage of the population could afford to approach the courts while the majority suffered in silence, and considered access to justice a tool of social emancipation. He highlighted the need to strengthen district judiciary, and urged lawyers and the judiciary to actively intervene on behalf of the rights of the undertrial prisoners.[23]

While speaking at an event at the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly he stated that the opposition space was diminishing, and the lack of mutual respect and increasing hostility between the government and opposition was not a sign of healthy democracy. He stated that India is a parliamentary democracy with representation being the core idea of such a democracy, with minority not being overwhelmed by the majority. He believed that the opposition should be strengthened to strengthen parliamentary democracy but believed that the opposition space was diminishing with the government passing laws without deliberation and scrutiny.[24]