The Law Ministry of India has recently notified the appointment of Justice Dipak Misra as the 45th Chief Justice of India. He will succeed the incumbent Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, who is set to retire on August 27. Justice Khehar recommended Misra's name to succeed him. He will hold office for the next 13 months, till 2 October 2018. The President on Tuesday confirmed the appointment. Justice Misra will take oath on August 27 and will retire on October 2 next year.
Justice Misra enrolled as an advocate in 1977 and practiced law in the Odisha High Court and the service tribunal. After 19 years of practice, he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Odisha High Court. He was soon transferred to the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1997 where he became a permanent judge. Further, he went on to become the Chief Justice of Patna High Court in 2009.
Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court (2010) before he was elevated as a Supreme Court judge in 2011, Justice Misra had been described as a "pro-citizen judge" by his peers. As the chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NLSA), he introduced several measures to provide legal aid to poor litigants. Recently, he had ordered introduction of video conferencing at state legal services authorities to connect poor prisoners languishing in jails with advocates who would free services.
63-year-old Justice Misra was also among the three judges who were up all night in July 2013, giving a historic hearing to decide on terrorist Yakub Memon's last-minute appeal against his hanging. It was Justice Misra who announced the court's decision at 5 am: "Stay of death warrant would be a travesty of justice. The plea is dismissed," he said. Memon was hanged two hours later.
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