The office boy who became Chief Justice of India

By Anirban Choudhury

I come from a poor family. I started my career as a class IV employee and the only asset I possess is integrity.

CJI Sarosh Homi Kapadia

At a time when the Indian judicial system is mired in controversy, thanks to the likes of KG Balakrishnan and PD Dinakaran, comes a man with the courage and the integrity to say all is not well with the system.

India's 38th chief justice S H Kapadia began his life as an office assistant who ran errands at a law firm. But deep down, he wanted to study law and be a judge.

Homi Kapadia hailed from a lower middle class Parsi family: his father was a clerk and his mother a homemaker. Quality education was a luxury. Which is why, in 1960, he took up a humble job at the law offices of Behramjee Jeejeebhoy.

His colleagues hadn't imagined even in their wildest dreams that he would one day go on to become the chief justice of India.

A co-worker from his early years told The Indian Express, "He was a young boy when he joined us to help senior advocates carry their heavy case briefs. His self-conscious demeanour would force me to wonder at times what he was doing in such a smart law firm".

The young Sarosh first sought to help his father and finance his younger brother's education before embarking on his journey to become a lawyer.

At 27, in 1974, he became counsel for the income tax department. He was appointed additional judge of the Bombay High Court in 1991 and made a permanent judge in 1993. He decided on matters relating to the environment, banking, industries, and taxation. He also presided over the high-profile Ketan Parekh stock scandal case in 1999, and played an important role in the proceedings of the Joint Parliamentary Committee constituted to investigate the scam.

On 5 August 2003 he became the Chief Justice of the Uttaranchal High Court and on December 2003 was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court.

Here, Kapadia delivered some landmark judgments. In one, he ruled against DNA testing in a property dispute case. He was also part of a three-member bench that heard the income tax case of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. The case went in Lalu's favour.

On 12 May 2010, Kapadia was sworn in as the Chief Justice of India by President Pratibha Patil.

Soon after his appointment, Kapadia wrote to retired Justice V R Krishna Iyer, replying to his congratulatory letter, "I come from a poor family. I started my career as a class IV employee and the only asset I possess is integrity. Even as a judge of the Supreme Court, I have used my knowledge of accounts and economics for the welfare of the downtrodden, including tribals and workmen. I hope to fulfill my obligation to the Constitution in the matter of achieving the goal of inclusive growth."

His actions, after he took over, clearly show that he is here to set the judicial house in order.

Kapadia has warned against frivolous public interest litigation (PIL). "Huge costs will be imposed against those filing frivolous PILs," Kapadia said, during a hearing. But the Indian courts are choked with cases filed by frivolous litigants who, for example, want to teach their political and business rivals a lesson. Citizens hope Kapadia will deal with them as firmly.

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