Justice NV Ramana: From a student leader to next CJI | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Justice NV Ramana: From a student leader to next CJI

By, New Delhi
Mar 25, 2021 04:59 AM IST

New Delhi From a student leader who fought for civil liberties during the nationwide Emergency in 1975 while sacrificing an academic year to taking over as the 48th chief justice of India next month, justice NV Ramana has had a remarkable journey

From a student leader who fought for civil liberties during the nationwide Emergency in 1975 while sacrificing an academic year to taking over as the 48th chief justice of India next month, justice NV Ramana has had a remarkable journey.

Over the years, justice Ramana has been a part of several landmark judgments.
Over the years, justice Ramana has been a part of several landmark judgments.

Born into a humble family of agriculturalists in Ponnavaram village of Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district, justice Ramana was asked by his father in June 1975 to pack an extra change of clothes after he presided over a public meeting against the Emergency.

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“My father was convinced that I will be arrested,” justice Ramana recounted his experience at an event in the national capital in January when he added that he had no regrets losing a year of college when he saw so many young people sacrifice their lives for the sake of human rights.

Before he joined a law college in 1980, justice Ramana worked as a journalist for a regional newspaper for two years. He was enrolled at the Bar in 1983. As a lawyer, he practised in the Andhra Pradesh high court, central administrative tribunal, the AP state administrative tribunal, and the Supreme Court in civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, service and election matters, with specialisation in constitutional, criminal, service and inter-state river laws.

He was appointed a permanent judge of the Andhra Pradesh high court in 2000 and was elevated as chief justice of the Delhi high court in 2013. On February 17, 2014, he was elevated as a Supreme Court judge.

Over the years, justice Ramana has been a part of several landmark judgments. He headed the bench which in January last year ruled that access to the internet is a fundamental right by extension while pulling the government up for the telecommunications blackout in Jammu & Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370. The bench then ordered the J&K administration to review all orders pertaining to the imposition of curbs on telecom and internet services and put them in the public domain.

Adjudicating a bunch of petitions on the Kashmir restrictions, justice Ramana’s bench also underscored the significance of the freedom of the press. “Responsible governments are required to respect the freedom of the press at all times... journalists are to be accommodated in reporting and there is no justification for allowing a sword of Damocles to hang over the press indefinitely,” his verdict held.

Justice Ramana delivered another important verdict in the Karnataka assembly case, clarifying the legal position that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule for defection could not operate as a bar for contesting re-election.

Emphasising the role of the Speaker, justice Ramana wrote in the judgment: “There is a growing trend of the Speaker acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral. Further, horse-trading and corrupt practices associated with defection and change of loyalty for lure of office or wrong reasons have not abated. Thereby the citizens are denied stable governments. In these circumstances, there is need to consider strengthening certain aspects, so that such undemocratic practices are discouraged and checked.”

By a judgment in January this year, justice Ramana held that fixing a notional income for a non-earning homemaker was a step towards the constitutional vision of social equality and ensuring dignity of life to all individuals.

The verdict highlighted that fixing a notional income for homemakers was a step towards “recognition of the multitude of women who are engaged in this activity, whether by choice or as a result of social/cultural norms. It signals to society at large that the law and the courts of the land believe in the value of the labour, services and sacrifices of homemakers.”

In a more recent ruling, a bench headed by justice Ramana held in February the restriction against grant of bail in a stringent law like The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 “per se does not oust the ability of Constitutional Courts to grant bail on grounds of violation” of a fundamental right like the right to a speedy trial.

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