NEW DELHI, June 29:Supreme Court Judge P Sathasivam will be appointed as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) after the expiry of present incumbent Altamas Kabir’s tenure.
President Pranab Mukherjee has given his nod for the appointment of Sathasivam as the next Chief Justice, official sources said.
64-year-old Sathasivam has joined as a permanent Judge of the Madras High Court in January 1996 after which he was transferred to the Punjab and High Court in April 2007.
He was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge on August 21, 2007.
Sathasivam, who will be the 40th CJI, will have tenure till April 26, 2014.
The incumbent Chief Justice retires on July 18 after having a little over nine months tenure. Kabir was appointed CJI on September 29 last year.
Born on April 27, 1949 in an agricultural family at Kadappanallur village near Bhavani of Erode district, Sathasivam went to Government High School at Singampettai.
He graduated in law from Madras Government Law College to become the first graduate in his family and his village.
Sathasivam would become the first judge from Tamil Nadu to become the Chief Justice of India.
Though Justice Pathanjali Sasthri became the Chief Justice of India from the combined Madras Province which comprised Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, he was a native of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
The legal fraternity in Tamil Nadu welcomed the announcement. (PTI)