R. M. Lodha (born 28 September 1949)[1] is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. Before being elevated to the Supreme Court, he served as the chief justice of Patna High Court.[2] He has also served as a judge in Rajasthan High Court and Bombay High Court. On 14 July 2015, the Supreme Court committee headed by RM Lodha suspended the owners of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings from the Indian Premier League cricket tournament for a period of two years for alleged involvement in betting.[3]

Rajendra Mal Lodha
41st Chief Justice of India
In office
27 April 2014 – 27 September 2014
PresidentPranab Mukherjee
Preceded byP. Sathasivam
Succeeded byH. L. Dattu
Judge of the Supreme Court of India
In office
17 December 2008 – 27 April 2014
Chief Justice of the Patna High Court
In office
13 May 2008 – 16 December 2008
Judge of the Rajasthan High Court
In office
2 February 2007 – 12 May 2008
Judge of the Bombay High Court
In office
16 February 1994 – 1 February 2007
Judge of the Rajasthan High Court
In office
31 January 1994 – 15 February 1994
Personal details
Born (1949-09-28) 28 September 1949 (age 75)
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Alma materUniversity of Jodhpur

Early life

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Rajendra Mal Lodha was born in an Oswal Jain family to Justice S K Mal Lodha, a former Judge of Rajasthan High Court. He was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.[1] He completed his BSc and LLB at the Jodhpur University.[4]

Career

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In February 1973, he enrolled with the Bar Council of Rajasthan at Jodhpur. He moved to Jaipur in 1977 on formation of Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court.[5] He was appointed Central Government standing counsel at the Rajasthan High Court in 1990. On 31 January 1994, Lodha was elevated as a permanent judge of Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur. On 16 February 1994, he was transferred to Bombay High Court and served till 2007. He resumed office as a judge of Rajasthan High Court on 2 February 2007. On 13 May 2008, he was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.[6]

Lodha was appointed the Chief Justice of India succeeding P Sathasivam on 11 April and assumed charge on 27 April 2014.[7] Justice Lodha said that infusing greater transparency in the appointment of judges and initiating steps to bring down the backlog of 33,000,000 cases will be among his priorities.[8]

Over the course of his Supreme Court tenure, Lodha authored 273 judgments.[9]

Other positions held

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These include:[10]

Further reading

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  • Datta, Damayanti (6 October 2014). "Those talking of corruption in the judiciary are themselves involved in corruption". Interview. India Today. 39 (40): 46–48. Retrieved 13 May 2015.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Hon'ble Mr. Justice R. M. Lodha". nalsa.gov.in. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Justice RM Lodha sworn in as 41st chief justice of Supreme Court". biharprabha.com. Indo-Asian News Service. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  3. ^ "CSK, RR owners suspended for two years". ESPNCricinfo.com. 14 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Jains of Jodhpur: How a tiny community ruled India's Supreme Court". 23 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Hon'ble Justice RM Lodha". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Justice R. M. Lodha". Rajasthan High Court. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Justice R.M. Loadha sworn in as Chief Justice of India". 27 April 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Lodha bats for transparency". India Today. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  9. ^ "RM Lodha". Supreme Court Observer. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Bio-data of Hon'ble Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of India
27 April 2014 – 27 September 2014
Succeeded by