New Delhi: Jagdish Singh Khehar is set to be the next Chief Justice of India after his name was recommende by current CJI T.S. Thakur. Justice Khehar will be sworn in by President Pranab Mukherjee on January 4, 2017. He will be the first Sikh to become the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Khehar will be the 44th Chief Justice of India and would remain in office from January 4, 2017 to August 4, 2017.
The present incumbent T S Thakur named Khehar as his successor in a response to the memorandum of procedure forwarded by the Union law and justice ministry.
As per the memorandum of procedure, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had written to Justice Thakur to name his successor in November. Justice Thakur responded on Tuesday by naming his number two as the next CJI.
Justice Khehar will have a brief eight-month tenure as the 44th CJI. Born on August 28, 1952, Khehar graduated in science from Government College, Chandigarh in 1974. He was awarded the LLB degree by Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1977 and LLM in 1979.
He was enrolled as an advocate in 1979 and practised mainly in the Punjab and Haryana high court, Himachal Pradesh high court and the Supreme Court. Justice Khehar was appointed as additional advocate general, Punjab, in January 1992.
He was elevated to the bench of Punjab and Haryana high court on February 8, 1999. Justice Khehar was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court twice.
