CJI swings in action, meets senior judges to take stock of of COVID-19 situation

New Delhi, Apr 24: Chief Justice of India Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana on Saturday swung into action after taking oath as head of the judiciary and held consultation with six senior judges of the Supreme Court to review functioning in view of present COVID-19 situation.

The 48th CJI, after being administered oath by President Ram Nath Kovind in a brief function here, went to the Supreme Court premises on a Saturday, a court holiday, and held meeting to discuss apex court's functioning in view of resurgence of pandemic, sources told PTI.

Besides the CJI, justices R F Nariman, U U Lalit, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and L Nageswara Rao took part in the meeting.

The seven senior judges would meet again, they said.

The apex court, since March 25, has been holding courts through video conferencing due to a nationwide lockdown and even after the restrictions were relaxed, it has decided to continue with the hearing through virtual courts.

Before being driven to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for taking oath as the CJI, Justice Ramana met and took blessings of the priests of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and the Srisailam temple of Andhra Pradesh. Later in the day, he visited CJI's office in the apex court's premises with his family members and then held consultation with the judges.

Hailing from an agriculturist family of Ponnavaram village of Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district, a soft-spoken Justice Ramana will have a tenure of over 16 months and will demit office on August 26 next year.