Former CJI as Governor - improper?
THE news that a former Chief justice of India is being made Governor of Kerala raises several questions of propriety, protocol and politics.
In the hierarchy the CJI ranks fourth after the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister. A State Governor is far below the line. In fact the CJI installs the President in office and takes over as President in the absence of the President and Vice-President. Should such a person seek sojourn in a Raj Bhavan? And are we setting a bad precedent? Is it a threat to the independence of the judiciary when the judges know that if they are in the good books of the Government, they can get appointment as governors after retirement? How does it look when a person who was sworn in as CJI by the President of India is sworn in as Governor by the Chief Justice of the State High Court?
Justice Fatima Beevi, a former Supreme Court Judge who was appointed as Governor of Tamil Nadu found the Raj Bhavan too hot and had to resign; maybe the Raj Bhavan is not exactly a cool place for former judges.