Former CJI Sathasivam to be Kerala Governor

New Delhi: Former Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam is to be the next Governor of Kerala following the resignation of Sheila Dikshit earlier this week.

This is the first time a retired CJI is being appointed to serve as a Governor of a State. There have been instances where former Chief Justices of High Courts were appointed as Governors.

Palanisamy Sathasivam had served as Chief Justice of India between August 2013 and April this year. He was appointed a permanent Judge of the Madras High Court on January 8, 1996 and served at Punjab & Haryana high courts before being appointed as a Supreme Court judge in 2007.

Hailing from Kadappanallur Village, Justice Sathasivam belonged to an agricultural family and he was the first graduate in his family and the first law graduate in his village.

Dikshit had stepped down soon after her meeting with home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday. She was appointed as Kerala governor in early March, months after her government was ousted in the Delhi assembly poll late last year. She was reportedly persuaded into putting in her papers.