P Sathasivam to be new Chief Justice of India

P Sathasivam to be new Chief Justice of India

He will also be the first judge from Tamil Nadu to become CJI

President Pranab Mukherjee on 29 June 2013 (Saturday) appointed Justice P. Sathasivam, seniormost judge of the Supreme Court, the 40th Chief Justice of India. He will replace Altamas Kabir as the new Chief Justice of India when the latter steps down on July 19, 2013. Kabir was appointed CJI on September 29 last year.

64-year-old Sathasivam joined as a permanent judge of the Madras high court in January 1996 after which he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana high court in April 2007. Justice Sathasivam never served as Chief Justice of a High Court as he was elevated directly to the Supreme Court on August 21, 2007, when he was serving as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Hailing from Kadappanallur village, Bhavani taluk in Erode district of Tamil Nadu, Justice Sathasivam belonged to an agricultural family. He was the first graduate in his

family and the first law graduate in his village. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Madras High Court on January 8, 1996. As a High Court judge, though he handled all types of cases, he disposed of more cases in service, labour and accident claim matters. On April 20, 2007, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He will be India's 40th Chief Justice. However, he will hold a very short stint in office because he is scheduled to retire on April 26, 2014 — which gives him less than a year at the helm.