Justice Balakrishnan sworn-in as Chief Justice of India

New Delhi, Jan 14: Justice Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnanwas today sworn in as the Chief Justice of India by President A P JAbdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan at a impressive ceremony thismorning.

Several dignatories including Vice- President Bhairon SinghShekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, outgoing Chief JusticeY K Sabharwal, Supreme Court judges, several former Chief Justices ofIndia, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and several Cabinet Ministerswere present at the Swearing-in of the new CJI at Darbar Hall thisforenoon. Mr Balakrishnan's mother K M Sarada witnessed the cermony ona wheel chair.

Justice Balakrishnan becomes the first ever Dalit to rise to theposition of Chief Justice of India since independence. He was born in1945, in a family with modest resources in Thalayolaparambu village inthe Kottayam district of Kerala.

As a child he had to tread five km to reach a primary school inhis village. He joined the Maharaja's College at Ernakulam. He earnedhis graduation in Law from Maharaja's Law College and startedpracticing in 1968. He completed his LLM in 1970.

After a judicial stint as a Munsif in 1973 Justice Balakrishnanresumed practice as an advocate in the Kerala High Court and rise tothe postion of a judge of the Kerala High Court and was transferred tothe Gujarat High Court in 1997. He became the Chief Justice of GujaratHigh Court in 1998. He was appointed a judge in the Supreme Court inJune 2000.

Justice Balakrishnan has made many intuitive judgements, such asasking the election Commission to debar the political parties forforcing strikes on the people. His several rulings have had farreaching effects on society.

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