Former Chief Justice of India Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was on Saturday awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award.
Justice Khehar, the first Sikh CJI, got the award in the category of ‘public affairs’.
Justice Khehar took over as 44th CJI in January 2017 and remained on the post for seven months. He has his roots in Chandigarh and studied master of laws (LLM) from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He joined at the Bar in 1979 and practiced till February 1999, when he was elevated as additional judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court.
He served as acting the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court twice in 2008 and 2009 and was elevated as the chief justice of Uttarakhand high court in November 2009. He was transferred to the Karnataka high court in August 2010, before being elevated as a Supreme Court judge in September 2011.