India News | Law Minister Rijiju Condoles Demise of Former CJI R S Lahoti

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday condoled the death of former chief justice of India Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, saying he rose from a humble background to reach the top position in the Indian judiciary.

Justice Lahoti died at a hospital here on Wednesday evening, family sources said. He was 81.

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Justice Lahoti was appointed as the 35th chief justice of India on June 1, 2004, and retired on November 1, 2005.

"Saddened to hear the passing away of Shri RC Lahoti, former Chief Justice of India. He rose from a humble background and reached the highest position of our country's judiciary because of his ability, knowledge and wisdom," Rijiju said in a tweet.

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Born on November 1, 1940, Justice Lahoti joined the Bar in Guna district in 1960 and enrolled as an advocate in 1962.

He was recruited directly to the bench in April 1977, from the Bar to the State Higher Judicial Service and was appointed as a district and sessions judge.

After serving in the post for a year, Justice Lahoti resigned in May 1978 and returned to the Bar to practice mainly in the High Court.

He was appointed an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on May 3, 1988, and made a permanent judge on August 4 the next year.

He was transferred to Delhi High Court on February 7, 1994, and later appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court on December 9, 1998.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)