Justice R.M.Lodha appointed as Next Chief Justice of India (CJI)

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, as the 41st Chief Justice of India. He will succeed present CJI P.Sathasivam, who retires on April 26, 2014.

Justice Lodha (64) is the most senior judge of the Supreme Court after CJI P Sathasivam. He will have a brief tenure of five months as CJI as he is scheduled to retire on September 27. Born in Jodhpur, Justice Lodha enrolled with the Bar Council of Rajasthan in February 1973. He practised law in the Rajasthan high court and dealt with constitutional, civil, company, criminal, taxation andlabour laws. He became a judge of the Rajasthan High Court on January 31, 1994.

He was transferred to the Bombay High Court on February 16, 1994 where he served for 13 years. He was re-transferred to the Rajasthan High Court in February 2007, and became the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court in May 2008.