Altamas Kabir to become CJI on Sept 29

Justice Altamas Kabir, the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court, will become the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) on September 29.

Justice Altamas Kabir, the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court, will become the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) on September 29.

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Setting the ball rolling for the appointment of his successor, CJI SH Kapadia — who retires on that day — has recommended the name of Justice Kabir to the government, so he can take up the top post of the country’s judiciary.

After the completion of formalities, Justice Kabir will be sworn in as the country’s next CJI by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 29.

Justice Kabir (64) will head the country’s judiciary for a little over nine months, until he retires on July 19 next year.

Justice Kabir will be the 39th Chief Justice of India, and the fourth Muslim to hold the top post in India’s history.

Born in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh) on July 19, 1948, Justice Kabir studied at Mount Hermon School in Darjeeling, Calcutta Boys School and Presidency College, Kolkata.

He began his legal career as a lawyer in the Calcutta High Court in 1973 and was appointed as a permanent judge of the same court in 1990.

Justice Kabir was elevated to the post of Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court in 1995, and later promoted to the Supreme Court in 2005.

He is the nephew of late union minister Humayun Kabir, who served with Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.