Despite objections from many quarters, Narendra Modi-led NDA government appointed ex-Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam as Governor of Kerala.
65-year-old Sathasivam is the first Chief Justice of India to be appointed to the post which is lower in warrant of precedence to the CJI. He is the first non-political person appointed for a gubernatorial post by the new NDA government.
President Pranab Mukherjee had accepted the resignation of Dikshit, a former chief minister of Delhi and a Congress leader.
Profile
Sathasivam was born on 27th April 1949 into an agricultural family to Palanisamy and Natchiammal at Kadappanallur village near Bhavani ofErode district. He graduated from Government Law College, Chennai after completing his BA degree Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi; he was the first college graduate in his family and in his village.[3]
Sathasivam enrolled as an advocate on 25 July 1973 at Madras. He was then appointed to the post of Additional Government Pleader, and later as the Special Government Pleader in the Madras High Court. He also worked as legal adviser for several state-owned corporations, municipalities, and banks. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Madras High Court on 8 January 1996, and transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 20 April 2007. He was elevated to the post of Judge of Supreme Court on 21 August 2007. During his tenure as Chief Justice he was the Chairman of the General Council of the Gujarat National Law University.[4] He succeeded Sheila Dikshit as the Governor of Kerala following her resignation.