Justice P. Sathasivam is going to be the next Chief Justice of India. He hail from Erode, Tamil Nadu. He would assume the office of CJIon July19, 2013 as its 40th occupant since Independence.
Justice Sathasivam  was born on 27thApril, 1949 in Kadappanallur Village of Bhavani Taluk of Erode District of Tamil Nadu.  He studied in a Government High School, Singampettai; and after completion of graduation, studied law at Madras Government Law College.
Hailing from an agricultural family,  Justice P. Sathasivam was the first graduate in his family and also the first law graduate in his village. He practiced in all types of Writ, Civil and Criminal matters,Company Petitions, Insolvency Petitions, Habeas Corpus Petitions both on Original as well as Appellate sides of the Madras High Court. He also worked as Government Advocate, Additional Government Pleader and as Special Government Pleader in the Madras High Court.
Justice P. Sathasivam was appointed as a permanent Judge of the Madras High Court on 8th  January 1996. As a High Court Judge, he handled all types of cases and disposed of more number of cases in service, labour and accidental claim matters.
On 20thApril 2007, he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 21st August 2007. On July19, 2013, Shri Justice P. Sathasivam will be sworn in as the 40th Chief Justice of India. He is due to retire on 26th April, 2014.
He has delivered some landmark judgments on matters of national importance which include:
Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. vs. Reliance Industries Limited wherein he emphasized the use of natural resources through Public Sector Undertakings. He observed that “in a national democracy like ours, the national assets belong to the people” and “the government owns such assets for the.purposes of developing them in the interests of the people.”
Rabindra Kumar Pal @ Dara Singh vs. Union of India dealt with the sensational case of triple murder of Australian Christian Missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons. This judgment concluded upon the hope that Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of religion playing a positive role in bringing India’s numerous religions and communities into an integrated prosperous nation be realized by way of equal respect for all religion.
Childline India Foundation & Anr. vs. Alan John Waters & Ors. recognized the importance of the protection provided to the Children by the Constitution of India and other laws and the seriousness with which crimes relating to children and unnatural offences against children in Shelter Homes should be treated.
Bhim Singh vs. Union of India wherein the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme was upheld holding that the court can strike down a law or scheme only on the basis of its vires or unconstitutionality but not on the basis of its viability.
Another significant decision was in Sajjan Kumar vs. Central Bureau of Investigation which related to the Sikh riot cases of 1984.
Another historic judgment was in Sidhartha Vashisht @ Manu Sharma vs.State (NCT of Delhi) relating to sensational murder case of Jessica Lall that took place in Delhi wherein the Court upheld the conviction and life imprisonment awarded to Manu Sharma.
In Amitbhai Anil chandra Shah vs. Union of India, he enlightened the criminal jurisprudence and its application.
In another valiant pronouncement in a matter relating to Pakistani National in Md. Khalil Chisti vs. State of Rajasthan, he set aside his conviction under Section 302 and allowed him to go back to his native country.
In Mayawati vs. Union of India, he scrutinized that the Central Bureau of Investigation exceeded its jurisdiction in lodging FIR of disproportionate assets against Ms. Mayawati in Taj Corridor matter and the same was quashed being illegal.
In an appeal Abu Salem, who was the gangster convicted in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, raised a question that the criminal courts in the country have no jurisdiction to try in respect of offences which do not form part of the extradition judgment, by virtue of which he was brought to India and he can be tried only for the offences mentioned in the extradition decree. In the remarkable judgment, it was highlighted how the Government of India and Government of Portugal entered into an agreement mentioning the relevant offences and Abu Salem was extradited to India to face the trial. The petition was dismissed holding that Abu Salem had been charged within the permissible scope of Section 21(b) of the Extradition Act and the Designated Court had not committed an illegality in passing the orders.
In a number of judgments, he cautioned the courts in awarding lesser sentence in crimes against women and children and showing undue sympathy towards accused by altering the sentence to the extent of period already undergone. He believes in giving priority to cases relating to women and children, thereby making the enforcement of law more stringent in cases of violence against women and children.
Yakub Abdul Razak Memon vs. State of Maharashtra, popularly known as Bombay Bomb Blast Case, wherein 257 persons died, 713 persons were injured and property worth about Rs. 27 crore was damaged in the city of Mumbai due to blasts. The said matter was heard without any break except the court holidays and the judgment which runs into numerous pages was pronounced within a commendable period of 9 months. Out of the eleven death sentences, one was confirmed while other death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. In the very same judgment, Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt was convicted for his association with the 1993 bombings in Mumbai and for acquiring and possessing illegal weapons in a notified area of Bombay and reduced the sentence to five years under the Arms Act.
As Executive Chairman, NALSA, Shri Justice P. Sathasivam visited several states and created awareness of people’s rights and entitlement. He inaugurated several legal literacy camps in rural areas, schools and colleges.