Day 1 of Chief Justice of India UU Lalit: A reporter's diary

The first day of Justice UU Lalit as 49th Chief Justice of India (CJI) was characterised by a lack of out of place observations, casual conversations with lawyers and comments on any aspect outside the realm of a case..The newly sworn-in CJI had his priorities set on the first day of his tenure. Fresh cases were heard and wrapped up before 1:00 pm so that after notice matters could be taken up after 2:00 pm. This, however, did not mean that the Court granted a half-hearted hearing in any case..All of the cases heard in CJI's today were given their allocated share of time, with minimal adjournments..As soon as the Bench sat, lawyers lined up to congratulate the new CJI.The CJI, eager to get to the board, heard out all the greetings and then remarked,"Are the preliminaries done so that we move on to the board?".Mentioning of matters is one crucial aspect which has seen a lot of ad-hoc and inconsistent norms during the tenures of various CJIs.CJI Lalit, however, made it clear that any matter which has to be listed urgently would be given a date, and that it would be seen that they are listed within 10 days. Pertinently, a new mechanism for mentioning will also be devised by Thursday, he revealed..However, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned matters citing urgency of their cases, CJI Lalit said,"Since you all have started mentioning despite me saying that by Thursday we will have the mechanism, all of you might as well complete it," he said as he began to take up a series of 22 listed matters and a number of unlisted mentionings. .Unlike past hearings before a CJI-led Bench, where PIL petitioners would be hauled up for petitions which were "frivolous", CJI Lalit's Bench came across as not only well-read, but also ready to grant a short hearing, even if the fate of the plea might be a dismissal..Serial numbers like 42 and 48 reached the board for hearing before 12:30 pm, which is a rarity in CJI court over the past few years.This pace was matched by other benches of the apex court. Whether it was Court Number 2 led by Justice DY Chandrachud or Court 3 led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, the board moved at least double the pace compared to last week. When a lawyer remarked that he did not expect the board to move at this pace, Justice Hima Kohli remarked, “Be ready for it.”.The CJI's Court is always closely followed by reporters, given the importance of the matters listed before it. Today, the Siddique Kappan bail matter was one of these. Watching a matter listed as item 40 being taken up at 12:15 pm was a welcome change.And it seems like this is something that will be appreciated by the Bar as well. As the Court proceeded to wrap up item 62 at around 1:00 pm, Senior Advocate Krishnan Venugopal said,"Milord, it is a privilege to appear before the first Chief Justice of India who was directly elevated from the Bar.”CJI Lalit said a “Thank You” with a smile and concluded the first session of his first day at the helm of the Supreme Court.