The Hindu : V.N. Khare sworn in new CJI

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 20, 2002

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V.N. Khare sworn in new CJI

By J. Venkatesan

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with the new Chief Justice of India, V.N. Khare, after the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sudershan

NEW DELHI DEC. 19. Justice Visheshwar Nath Khare, senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, was today sworn in as the 33rd Chief Justice of India. He succeeds Justice G.B. Pattanaik who retired after a brief tenure of 41 days.

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, administered the oath of office to Mr. Justice Khare at a brief ceremony held at the Ashoka Hall in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Mr. Justice Khare, who is the fourth CJI to adorn the office this year, will have a 16-month tenure till May 2, 2004.

It is for the first time in the 52-year-old history of the apex court that four Chief Justices adorned the office in a single year. Justice S.P. Bharucha, who became the CJI on November 1, 2001, retired on May 5. He was followed by Justice Kirpal on November 7 and Justice Pattanaik on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekawat, the former President, K.R. Narayanan, Mr. Justice Pattanaik, the former CJIs, including Justice Anand and Justice Kirpal, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Union Law Minister, Jana Krishnamurthy, the former Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, other Cabinet Ministers, the leaders of political parties, including P.H. Pandian of the AIADMK and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, the Attorney-General, Soli Sorabjee, the Solicitor-General, Kirit Raval, former and present Supreme Court and High Court judges were among those who attended.

Outlining his priorities, Mr. Justice Khare, during a brief chat with presspersons, said, "there are many areas, including grey areas, which will be addressed".

Asked about judicial accountability and the proposed action, he said: "I have confidence in my judges. Like any other field, there are some rotten fish because of the pollution. They will be dealt with firmly in accordance with law". He made it clear that judges who fell short of the expected qualities had no place in the judiciary.

However, like his predecessors, he too did not endorse the Government's proposal to set up a National Judicial Commission. "There are some aberrations which we will have to tackle to come to the logical conclusion", but the present system of collegium of apex court judges ``was adequately taking care of the issues concerning judiciary.''

Enrolled as an advocate in the Allahabad High Court in November 1961, Mr. Justice Khare practised on the civil, writ and revenue side. He served as chief standing counsel for the State Government at the Allahabad Bench of the High Court.

He was appointed permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court in June 1983, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court in February 1996, and elevated to the Supreme Court in March 1997. As Supreme Court judge, he was party to many important decisions on issues relating to environment, forests and public interest litigations. His majority Constitutional Bench judgments in regard to levy of tax on inter-State sale, right of pre-emption, majority opinion in Presidential reference relating to Gujarat elections and judgment in the 11-judge "minorities" case were some of his landmark decisions.

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