A bench headed by the new Chief Justice of India, Justice U.U. Lalit, will hear the bail plea of Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, a petition of activist Gautam Navlakha and some important PILs on Monday, his first working day at the helm of the top court.

Justice Lalit was sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday, a non-working day in the Supreme Court.

According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, Justice Lalit will hold the bench in the court number one with Justice S. Ravindra Bhat on Monday.

Kappan, arrested in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, where a young Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped, has approached the top court seeking bail.

A Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had earlier this month rejected his bail application.

Justice Lalit, along with Justice Bhat, will also hear an appeal filed by human rights activist Navlakha, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links case, against a Bombay High Court order that rejected his plea that he be placed under house custody instead of being lodged in prison.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Lalit is scheduled to hear a number of fresh PILs on various issues.

The top court is expected to hear a batch of pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict which dismissed the petitions seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom.