New Delhi: Justice Surya Kant’s oath-ceremony as the 53rd Chief Justice of India (CJI) at the Rashtrapati Bhavan was a unique and inclusive gathering of attendees who played a crucial role in his life’s trajectory.
Sources in the Supreme Court told ThePrint the guests who were invited for the Monday morning’s ceremony not just included his close friends from school and college days, but also his college and law professors who shaped his career first as a lawyer and then a judge.
“The list of 235 invitees was personally prepared by Justice Surya Kant who was very keen that those who have contributed in his rise to the top post of judiciary should witness the ceremony. Though close to 1,000 persons attended the event, only 235 persons selected by him were present at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Rest attended the event at the Supreme Court auditorium where the event was being telecast live,” one of the sources in know of the development told ThePrint.
Apart from his immediate family, who came from Hisar, Justice Kant’s teacher from Government Post Graduate college—Usha Dahiya, his professors from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak—Ranbir Singh and K.P.S Mehalwal were among the prominent members of the gathering.
Justice Surya Kant also invited senior citizens from his village representing all communities. “Since he is the first resident of Hisar to reach this post, he was very keen that his village people be present during the ceremony,” added another source.
He did not restrict his list of invitees to his contemporaries and batchmates from law, but also extended it to senior lawyers, who guided him during his struggling days in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Even though these senior advocates are no longer in active practice, Justice Kant wanted to thank them for their support during his early days as a HC lawyer by making them a part of his oath ceremony.
His close friends with whom he started his legal career at the Hisar district court in 1984 too were present to see their friend take the highest office.
The list had lawyers from other states, including Srinagar, Kerala, Guwahati. “Usually, close lawyer friends from the state to which the judge taking oath as CJI belongs attend the ceremony. Lawyers from Punjab and Haryana were present in large numbers today as well. But most of them, except a few senior ones, were made to sit in the auditorium. However, the CJI was keen to have a larger regional representation during the programme in Rashtrapati Bhavan and, therefore, the invite was sent to lawyers practicing in other states as well,” added the second source quoted above.
The entire judicial strength from Punjab and Haryana High Court, too, was present at the auditorium to attend the ceremony. “He is the first judge from Haryana to be elevated to the CJI’s office, a very proud moment for all of us,” said one of the HC judges who was in Delhi.
In a first, chief justices and judges from several foreign countries were also present at the swearing-in ceremony. They were from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka. During an interaction with the media persons, Justice Kant said that the invite was a part of an outreach programme to collaborate with other jurisdictions.
(Edited by Tony Rai)