NEW DELHI: For the first time in the history of the Supreme Court, two newly-appointed judges will be sworn in, in the absence of the Chief Justice of India, Justice M.H. Kania, and during the ongoing summer vacation.
The President, R. Venkataraman, has signed the warrants of appointment of the chief justice of Karnataka High Court, Justice S.B. Bharucha, and the acting chief justice of Karnataka, Justice M.N. Venkarachala. They will take oaths on July 1. The senior most judge of the high court, Dr. T.K. Thommen who is present here will administer the oath to the new judges.
Old timers and Supreme Court veterans say since the inception of the high court it was the first time that the oath of office would be administered by the senior most “available” judge. In the absence of the Chief Justice, Justice Kania, the second-in-command is Justice L.M.Sharma. It was indicated that though Justice Sharma is away in his home town, Patna, he has expressed his inability to be present on the occasion.
The July 1 swearing-in ceremony is being considered unprecedented because of the absence of the Chief Justice. The court had witnessed the rare event on June 15 when a judge of the Patna High Court, Justice N.P. Singh, was administered the oath of office during the summer vacation,
It has been pointed out that although the June 15 ceremony had taken place during the summer vacation, the oath of office was administered by the Chief Justice himself. About four years ago, the then chief justice, administered the oath of office to the then newly appointed Justice S. Verma during the vacation, Then, Justice N.D. Oha, was administered the oath of judge at a late night ceremony.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1994
