Jagdish Singh Khehar 1st Sikh to be sworn-in as the Chief Justice of India

Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was on Wednesday sworn in as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) after CJI Justice Tirath Singh Thakur demitted office on January 3.

Khehar was administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Justice Khehar, who was born on August 28, 1952, is also the first Sikh to hold the apex office.

He graduated in science from Government College, Chandigarh, in 1974 and was awarded the LL.B degree by Panjab University in 1977. He then acquired the LL. M. qualification from the same University in 1979, and was awarded a Gold Medal for having stood first in the university.

Justice Khehar was enrolled as an advocate in 1979 and practiced mainly in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh; Himachal Pradesh High Court, Shimla; and the Supreme Court of India, New Delhi.

He was appointed as Additional Advocate General, Punjab, in January 1992, and then as Senior Standing Counsel, Union Territory, Chandigarh. He was designated as Senior Advocate in February 1995 and remained standing counsel for Universities of the area, Corporate Bodies and a large number of companies and cooperative organisations.

He was elevated to the Bench of High Court of Punjab and Haryana on February 8, 1999 and Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court twice - with effect from August 02, 2008 and again from November 17, 2009.

He was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court of Uttarakhand, Nainital, on November 29, 2009; thereafter, he was transferred as Chief Justice of High Court of Karnataka, where he assumed his office on August 8, 2010.

By a notification dated May 20, 2010 the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha appointed him as a member of the Judges Inquiry Committee for investigating the grounds on which the removal of Justice P.D. Dinakaran, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, has been sought.

On appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of India, he assumed office on September 13, 2011.

He will retire from the Supreme Court on August 28, 2017.