New Chief Justice cracks the whip

New Delhi: Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia opened his innings as the 38th Chief Justice of India (CJI), making it clear he would remain a stickler for judicial discipline.

Within an hour of leaving Rashtrapati Bhavan, he took over his new job and in the most watched court room of the country, he declared that frivolous PILs will be fined.

In his typical straight talking manner, he said, "These PILs "make us work like tehsildars".

Lawyers too were at the receiving end. Chief Justice Kapadia told them that there would be no "oral mentions".

This means, a lawyer can no longer take a short cut to get his case heard on a priority by asking the CJI in an open court. They have to stick to the rules.

Advertisement

Not surprisingly, Homi Kapadia has consistently won praise from many of his peers.

In reply to Justice Krishna Iyer, the new chief wrote, "I come from a poor family. I started my career as a Class IV employee and the only asset I possess is 'integrity'."

Advertisement

In his six years stay at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Kapadia has been a member of most of the 13 Constitution Benches.

He takes over at a time when the judiciary is faces issues like transparency and appointment of judges.

Advertisement

There is a demand to change the procedure for appointing judges. If such a demand comes from the government, it will be a challenge to the new Chief Justice of India to strike a balance between judicial precedence and transparency.