THE SHIFTS IN JUDICIARY

The present incumbent Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan will superannuate on May 11, after remaining the chief of the apex court for more than two years.

Justice S.H. Kapadia the senior most judge of the Supreme Court was on Friday appointed as the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Kapadia’s Warrant of Appointment signed by President Pratibha Patil has been sent to the Supreme Court registry, official sources said. Justice Kapadia, 62, will become the 38th CJI on May 12 when the incumbent CJI K.G. Balakrishnan retires. Justice Kapadia would remain in office till September 29, 2012.  Justice Kapadia was part of the Constitution Bench that in 2007 declared that laws placed under the protective umbrella of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution were open to judicial review. He was also on the Bench that decided I-T case in favour of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Though he has been associated with many historic judgments, he is considered to be an expert in tax laws. He has a keen interest in economics, public finance, theoretical physics and Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. He also had been in the midst of controversies when it was alleged last year that he was hearing matters in which he had conflict of interest. He assumes the office at a time when the judiciary is faced with problems, such as corruption, lack of transparency, failure of in-house mechanism in dealing with deviant judges, appointment and transfer of judges and backlog of cases.

Justice Balakrishnan is tipped to be the next chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission which is lying vacant for the past one year. Other changes Justice Mishra, CJ of Jharkhand High Court, Justice H L Gokhale, CJ of Madras HC, and Justice A R Dave, CJ of Bombay HC on Friday took oath as  judges of the Supreme Court. With the appointment of these three judges, the strength of the Supreme Court has gone up to 30 out of the sanctioned strength of 31. Justice Mishra is the fourth woman judge to be elevated to the Supreme Court after Justices Fatima Beevi, Sujata Manohar and Ruma Pal.