December 23, 2006 – New Delhi

According to media reports, Justice K G Balakrishnan, will become the new Chief Justice of India and the first Dalit to occupy the post on January 14, 2007. Currently, he is the most senior justice in the highest court of the land and will become the 37th Chief Justice of India. There are currently 20 other justices sitting in the Supreme Court.

Law Ministry sources told reporters that President A P J Abdul approved the appointment this week. Balakrishnan will replace Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal who retires on January 14, 2007, after 14 months of leadership. Balakrishnan will likely serve for three years and four months, till May 12, 2010, when he will retire. Supreme Court Justices must retire by the age of 65.

The Supreme Court of India is composed of the Chief Justice and not more than 25 other justices appointed by the President of India. The President must appoint judges in consultation with the Supreme Court. Usually, a group of five justices headed by the Chief Justice recommends the name. Appointments are usually made on the basis of seniority and political preference is not supposed to be factor. The court has had many minorities appointed including at least three women and representatives of various religions.

However, on June 8, 2000, Justice K. G. Balakrishnan was the first judge appointed from the Dalit community to sit on the Supreme Court. Dalits represent almost a fourth of India ’s population. There have been at least three Other Backward Caste (OBC) justices. These include K Ramaswamy (appointed in 1989), BC Ray (in 1986), and A Varadarajan (in 1980). OBCs represent slightly more than half of India ’s population.

In an article from the Hindustan Times newspaper on June 4, 2006, former law minister, Arun Jaitley, said that the Central Government periodically writes to the Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of state courts to ask them to find candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. These letters appear to be annual but are apparently ignored.