Justice J S Khehar appointed as Chief Justice of India

Khehar is set to be first Sikh Chief Justice

Justice J S Khehar was on Monday appointed as the new Chief Justice of India after President Pranab Mukherjee’s approval. Khehar, who led the five-judge constitution bench in the Supreme Court which had struck down the controversial NJAC Act for appointment of judges, will replace Justice TS Thakur as the top judge. Thakur will be demitting office on January 3, 2017.

Justice Khehar, 64, will be the first Chief Justice from the Sikh community. He will be sworn in on January 4 and will hold the tenure for over seven months till August 27, 2017.

Besides heading the bench in NJAC matter, Justice Khehar has also headed a bench which had set aside the imposition of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh in January this year. He was also a part of the bench which sent Sahara chief Subrata Roy to jail while hearing the matter relating to the refund of money invested by people in his two companies.