A. S. Anand sworn in as Chief Justice of India

NEW DELHI, Oct 10 (PTI) — Mr Justice Adarsh Sein Anand was today sworn in as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President K.R. Narayanan at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Mr.Justice Anand, 62, who became the 29th CJI succeeding Mr. Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, took oath in the name of God in a five minute ceremony attended by Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and a host of other dignitaries.

Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, Cabinet ministers Murli Manohar Joshi, S.S. Barnala, George Fernandes, Sushma Swaraj, M. Thambi Durai, Navin Patnaik, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, former Presidents S.D. Sharma, R. Venkataraman, former CJIs Justice Punchhi, Justice R.S. Pathak, Justice Ranganath Mishra, Justice J.S. Verma, Justice A.M. Ahmedi, Justice P.N. Bhagawati, other Supreme Court and High Court judges and Attorney Generals Soli J. Sorabjee were present at the swearing-in ceremony.

One of the first tasks ahead of Justice Anand, who will have a tenure of little over three years, is to constitute a Constitution Bench to decide the petition by former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and BSP leader Mayawati seeking disqualification of 12 of her party MLAs, who had voted for the Kalyan Singh government during a no-confidence vote last year.

Justice Anand, who was heading a nine-judge Constitution Bench to clarify certain doubts raised by the President in his reference to the Supreme Court regarding appointment of judges, has excluded himself from the Bench setting high standards of judicial impartiality. The Bench is now headed by Justice S.P. Bharucha.

Known for his strictness in matters concerning public interest, Justice Anand had recently refused to relax the time limit set for scrapping of old commercial vehicles, which contributed most to the rising pollution level in the Capital.

Heading a three-Judge Bench, he had set December 31 this year deadline for scrapping of all commercial vehicles which were over 15 years old.

Soon after his oath taking ceremony, a delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association led by Mohammed Ashraf and comprising Onkar Singh and Mohammed Abdullah felicitated Justice Anand for becoming the first CJI from the state.

Born on November 1, 1936, Justice Anand received his early education at Jammu and graduated from the then Jammu and Kashmir University.

After completing his bar-at-law in 1964, Justice Anand set up a lucrative practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh.

He was appointed an additional judge to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court at the age of 38 years and six months.

Justice Anand was confirmed as a permanent judge in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 1976 and rose to be the Chief Justice nine years later.

He was transferred to the Madras High Court in 1989 and two years later was elevated to the Supreme Court as a judge.

Immediately after the government announced his appointment as the Chief Justice of India last month, Justice Anand had said, "justice is a constitutional right and I will take steps to provide inexpensive justice to people".

Justice Anand has done an admirable job as the chairman of National Legal Services authority by taking effective steps to establish Lok Adalats in every district of the country.

He has authored the book titled "The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir — its Development and Comments".

Justice Anand, who was awarded the Degree of Doctorate in Law (Honorary) by Lucknow University in 1996, was unanimously elected the President of the International Institute of Human Rights Society in 1996 and was the first Indian to be honoured with a fellowship of the University College, London, in 1997.