Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday, will be the sixth head of the Indian judiciary to have a tenure of fewer than 100 days.
Lalit will demit office on November 8 with a tenure of 74 days. Supreme Court judges retire attaining the age of 65 while high court judges retire at 62. Justice Kamal Narain Singh, who was the CJI between November 25, 1991, and December 12, 1991, had a tenure of 18 days.
Justice S Rajendra Babu had a tenure of 30 days as the chief justice of India between May 2, 2004, and May 31, 2004. Justice J C Shah had a tenure of 36 days when he was the CJI between December 17, 1970, and January 21, 1971.
Justice G B Patnaik had a 41-day tenure as the head of the Indian judiciary when he held the office of the CJI from November 8, 2002, to December 18, 2002. Justice L M Sharma had a tenure of 86 days as the CJI when he was in office between November 18, 1992, and February 11, 1993.
