Sathasivam sworn in as CJI

Venkat Parsa New Delhi: Justice Palanisamy Sathasivam was sworn in as the 40th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rahshtrapati Bhavan on Friday. Justice Sathasivam, 64, replaces Justice Altamas Kabir. Elevated to the Supreme Court in August, 2007, he would demit office on April 26, 2014. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, NDA Working Chairman L K Advani, CPI National Secretary D Raja and several Union Ministers were present at the ceremony. Born on April 27, 1949, in Kadappanallur Village of BhavaniTaluk, Erode District, Tamil Nadu, he studied in a Government High School, Singampettai. After completion of graduation, he studied law at Madras Government Law College and enrolled as an advocate in July 1973 at Madras. He was appointed as a permanent Judge of the Madras High Court in January, 1996. Later, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in April, 2007. Some major judgments by Justice Sathasivam include the Mumbai blasts case and that of Pakistani scientist Mohammed Khalil Chisti. He had also delivered the verdict in the triple murder case of Australian missionary Graham Staines and upheld the conviction of Dara Singh in that case. The Supreme Court Bench of Justice Sathasivam and Justice B S Chauhan had upheld the conviction of actor Sanjay Dutt and several others in the Mumbai blasts case.