Altamas Kabir sworn-in as 39th Chief Justice of India

Justice Altamas Kabir on 29 September 2012 was sworn-in as the new chief justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee. He took over the office from Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia, who retired after serving the Supreme Court for two and a half year. 64 year old Altamas Kabir will be in the office for a period of nine months, from 29 September 2012 to 18 July 2013. His oath ceremony was conducted at the ceremony held at Ashoka Hall of Rastrapati Bhawan.

At the swearing ceremony some of the dignitaries present were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari, working Chairperson of NDA L.K. Advani, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Yadav along with several Union Ministers.

About Justice Altamas Kabir

Justice Altamas Kabir was appointed as the Judge of Supreme Court on 9 September 2005 and is known for some of the landmark judgments related to election laws and human rights. He pursued his MA in LL.B from University of Calcutta and started his career as a practitioner in civil and criminal cases in the year 1973 at District court of Calcutta. Altamas Kabir was first time appointed as a permanent judge in the Calcutta high Court on 6 August 1990 and has served the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Indian Constitution and Article 124 to 147 states about the composition of Supreme Court of India. Supreme Court of India consists of one Chief Justice and 31 judges. The bench that comprises 2 or 3 judges is termed as a Division Bench and the one that bench that consists of five or more judges is termed to be a Constitutional Bench.

Tenure and qualification of Judges in Supreme Court

President appoints the judges of the Supreme Court and the retirement age of these judges is 65. For being a judge or chief justice of a Supreme Court one must fulfill the following qualifications:

1. He must be an Indian Citizen
2. Should have served the High Court as its Judge for at least 5 years
3. He should have served the high court as its advocate for a period of 10 years

In case their occurs a vacancy in the CJI office due to any reason, the president appoints the acting Chief Justice as the Chief Justice of India from amongst the judges of the Supreme Court. The salaries and other allowances of the Judges in India are charged from the Consolidated Fund of India. At present the salary structure is:

1. Chief Justice of Supreme Court-Rs 1 Lakh
2. Other Judges of SC: Rs 90,000

Removal of Judges

The Judge can be removed from India on certain ground that includes incapacity to hold the office or proven misbehavior. They can be removed only after the resolution of both the houses of Indian Parliament that is supported by the majority of two-third of the members voting and present. The two judges against whom the proceeding was initiated:

1. V Ramaswami in 1993 was the first judge against whom the proceedings were initiated
2. Soumitra Sen in 2011 was the second judge against whom these proceedings were initiated