New Delhi: Senior lawyer Uday U Lalit is likely to be elevated as the Supreme Court judge after the government controversially rejected Gopal Subramanium last month. Lalit has represented Amit Shah in two high-profile criminal cases.
A Supreme Court panel led by the Chief Justice of India has recommended Lalit’s name, along with three others, for the top court. The list will go to the Law Ministry, Prime Minister and finally, President Pranab Mukherjee.
Lalit represented Amit Shah in cases involving the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati in Gujarat.
The same cases were linked to the Modi government’s rejection of former advocate general Gopal Subramanium, whose name was dropped from the list of four candidates recommended by the Supreme Court collegium.
Lalit will be the sixth lawyer directly elevated to the top court as a judge. He is also the special public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum scam case involving the gifting of out-of-turn mobile network licenses by the previous government to companies who allegedly paid big kickbacks.
The other judges recommended by the Collegium are Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice Prafull Chandra Pant, Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice R Banumathi, Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.