Jagdish Singh Khehar

1. 🌍 Born on August 28, 1952, in Nairobi, Kenya, Jagdish Singh Khehar moved to Chandigarh in 1965, marking a rare journey from a British colony to the heart of India's judiciary.

2. 🎓 By 1979, he had earned his LL.M from Panjab University and soon began teaching law there from 1982 to 1986, blending academia with practice early in his career.

3. In 1999, Khehar was appointed to the Chandigarh Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where he eventually served as Acting Chief Justice twice before leading the Uttarakhand High Court in 2009.

4. 👨‍⚖️ In 2011, he ascended to the Supreme Court of India, where his judgments began reshaping constitutional law, including the 2016 verdict striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act.

5. In January 2017, Khehar became the 44th Chief Justice of India, the first Sikh to hold the position, and during his brief tenure he administered the oath to President Ram Nath Kovind.

6. 📜 His Supreme Court led rulings included the landmark Right to Privacy verdict affirming privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21, and a dissenting stance on the Triple Talaq case emphasizing legislative authority.

7. Khehar’s judgments often emphasized judicial independence, notably declaring parts of the NJAC unconstitutional for threatening this principle, reflecting his resistance to executive interference.

8. ❓ How did Khehar’s East African Sikh heritage and Chandigarh upbringing influence his vision of judicial independence amid India’s evolving constitutional battles?