First CJI-turned Kerala Governor demits office today

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Justice P. Sathasivam who is bidding farewell on Wednesday is expected to get a top judicial position in the national capital.

Not many at the Raj Bhavan are aware of his plans. He has not talked to anyone about it.

Jaya P. Nair, the former comptroller of Raj Bhavan who had worked under 16 governors, is confident.

“Sathasivam Sir’s field has always been the judiciary, and he is expected to get a job in the same field," she told DC.

“Whenever he gets invited to programmes organised by the police and the judiciary, he is all excited. For a month, Sathasivam Sir is expected to take rest at his Erode home, and after that, he is expected to move to the national capital.”

The current chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, retired Chief Justice H. L. Dattu, has close to two more years’ service left. The usual term of NHRC chairman is five years.

The first Chief Justice of India to be a governor, who has completed five years at the Raj Bhavan, is being accorded a send-off by the Raj Bhavan staff on Wednesday, before his successor, Arif Mohammed Khan reaches there the same night.

The 70-year-old will be given a guard of honour at the Thiruvana-nthapuram Airport before he flies home.

Raj Bhavan officials say, probably, he is the only governor to have seen every nook and corner of the 29.65-acre lush green sylvan estate.

Ms Jaya says its 27th occupant did not have any airs and treated everyone equally. He used to interact with them all, irrespective of their posts.

“That was something the Raj Bhavan had never experienced. He has attended the maximum number of functions in the state. I am doubtful whether his predecessors ever had visited the northern tip of the state, Kasaragod. But Sathasivam Sir went there at least three to four times,” she said.

Another serving official told DC that due to his experience in writing significant judgments, he sought clarity in all the files and official papers that came before him.

His wife, Saraswathy, is considered as a quiet lady of simplicity, charm and village woman naiveness. They have two sons, Sreenivasan and Senthil.

Mr Sathasivam’s successor, Arif Mohammed Khan, will be sworn in on Friday at 11 am by Kerala Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy.