Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Sunday completed a year as top judge, leading the Supreme Court in several interventions from ordering an enquiry into the Pegasus snooping allegations to cancelling bail to a Union Minister’s son accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings to ordering status quo of the Jahangirpuri demolition drive.
The year also saw the CJI create a consensus within the powerful Supreme Court Collegium, which went on to script history by initiating the appointment of nine Supreme Court judges in one go — a rare achievement. One of the nine judges, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, would become first woman Chief Justice of India.
But what had really set Chief Justice Ramana apart was his role as an ambassador of the judiciary to the public. The CJI has, despite the limitations thrown by the pandemic, made a constant effort to communicate, and through his speeches, remove any disconnect between the public and the judiciary, which is often viewed as a class which sits in ivory towers.
