Supreme Court dismisses plea against Jagdish Singh Khehar’s appointment as next chief justice
A lawyers’ body had alleged that the appointee was biased and said Justice J Chelameshwar was a better candidate for the post.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a petition filed by a lawyers’ body that had sought a stay on the appointment of Jagdish Singh Khehar as the next chief justice of India, ANI reported. The National Lawyers’ Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms had filed a writ petition seeking Justice J Chelameshwar’s appointment as the next chief justice on the basis of his seniority.
The petition had alleged that Khehar was biased towards high-profile lawyers and was particularly strict against minor errors committed by advocates. President Pranab Mukherjee had cleared Khehar’s name to take over as the 44th CJI on December 19. Khehar will succeed Chief Justice TS Thakur on January 4 for a seven-month term.
Khehar was part of the Constitution bench in the Supreme Court that had set aside the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act for the selection of judges. He will be the first Sikh CJI.
