Khehar to be new Chief Justice of India

Justice J S Khehar, the senior most Supreme Court judge, will be the next Chief Justice of India (CJI). Sitting CJI T S Thakur, who retires on January 3, 2017, has recommended the name of Justice Khehar as his successor.

After the government’s notification and swearing-in on January 4, Justice Khehar will become the 44th CJI and the first from the Sikh community. He will remain in office till August 28, 2017.Justice Khehar presided over the five-judge Constitution bench which invalidated the National Judicial



Appointments Commission Act in October 2015. He also headed the Constitution bench that set aside the imposition of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh.

He was appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 8, 1999. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand HC on November 29, 2009 and thereafter transferred as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, which office he assumed on August 8, 2010. Subsequently, he was appointed SC judge and assumed office on September 13, 2011.