New Delhi:
Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court and one who wants all judges to keep themselves abreast with commercial laws, was today appointed as the 38th Chief Justice of India (CJI).
The 62-year-old judge will take over from incumbent Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on May 12 and would remain at the helm of Indian Judiciary till September 29, 2012. Justice Kapadia was associated with an historical judgement in which a five-judge Constitutional Bench had held that the law put in the Ninth Schedule was open for judicial review.
Kapadia's deep knowledge on wide ranging issues, particularly tax laws, has earned him accolades from the Bench and the Bar in equal measure. Justice Kapadia, who is known for maintaining strict judicial discipline, assumes the office at a crucial time when Indian judiciary is hit by corruption controversy and perceived failure of in-house mechanism on appointment and elevation of judges.
For the judge, who during his tenure in the apex court since December 18, 2003 had been associated with 771 judgements, his 28-month term as the CJI would be a challenging one against the backdrop of the need to reduce the mounting number of pending of the cases not only in the top court but in High Courts and trial courts.
However, the real test for Justice Kapadia would be to take a stand on whether or not the office of CJI comes under the ambit of the Right to Information Act as the present CJI K G Balakrishnan has consistently maintained that it has to be kept out of the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The issue assumes importance as the Delhi High Court had dismissed the stand of Justice Balakrishnan after which the Supreme Court Registry appealed to the apex court.
The 62-year-old judge will take over from incumbent Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on May 12 and would remain at the helm of Indian Judiciary till September 29, 2012. Justice Kapadia was associated with an historical judgement in which a five-judge Constitutional Bench had held that the law put in the Ninth Schedule was open for judicial review.
Kapadia's deep knowledge on wide ranging issues, particularly tax laws, has earned him accolades from the Bench and the Bar in equal measure. Justice Kapadia, who is known for maintaining strict judicial discipline, assumes the office at a crucial time when Indian judiciary is hit by corruption controversy and perceived failure of in-house mechanism on appointment and elevation of judges.
For the judge, who during his tenure in the apex court since December 18, 2003 had been associated with 771 judgements, his 28-month term as the CJI would be a challenging one against the backdrop of the need to reduce the mounting number of pending of the cases not only in the top court but in High Courts and trial courts.
However, the real test for Justice Kapadia would be to take a stand on whether or not the office of CJI comes under the ambit of the Right to Information Act as the present CJI K G Balakrishnan has consistently maintained that it has to be kept out of the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The issue assumes importance as the Delhi High Court had dismissed the stand of Justice Balakrishnan after which the Supreme Court Registry appealed to the apex court.
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