Kapadia takes over as 38th CJI

Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia on Wednesday took over as Chief Justice of India succeeding Justice K G Balakrishnan.

Kapadia, 62, was administered the oath of office by President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The event was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his cabinet colleagues, the outgoing chief justice and other dignitaries.

Kapadia’s interests include economics and public finance. Kapadia, the 38th Chief Justice of India, will head the judiciary until September 29, 2012.

Born on September 29, 1947, Kapadia enrolled as an advocate in September 1974.
Kapadia was appointed Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in October 1991.  He became a permanent judge in the High Court in March 1993.

He was associated with a historical judgment in which a five-judge Constitutional Bench held that the law put in the Ninth Schedule was open for judicial review.

He also served as the Chief Justice of Uttaranchal High Court from October 5, 2003, to December of the same year before being elevated to the Supreme Court on December 18, 2003.

On his first day in office, Justice Kapadia spelt out his priority of tackling frivolous litigation. Presiding over Court No One, he made it clear that non-serious litigants could be slapped with costs for wasting the time of the court. The message was candidly conveyed by the chief justice while dismissing a petition. He told counsel that a petition like this could attract costs.