The post of the Chairman of the Law Commission, vacant for over seven months after Justice A. R. Lakshmanan’s term ended on July 31, 2009, has finally been filled with the appointment of former Supreme Court Judge, P.V. Reddy.

Justice Reddy, previously the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court was recommended to the post by the Union Ministry of Law. While at the Supreme Court, he heard the Parliament attack case, where he upheld the death sentence of mastermind, Mohammed Afzal.

Media reports suggest that the Union Minister for Law, Veerappa Moily, was in favour of appointing former Supreme Court Judge, B.N. Srikrishna. However Justice Srikrishna is believed to have declined, as he also is also the Chair of a five-member committee on Telangana. 

The Law Commission of India was set up to constantly assess the need for new legislations and also to monitor obsolete laws and a need for amendments to the existing laws. The New Indian Express, a national daily, has published an article on the race for Lutyens Bunglow in Delhi between Justices Reddy and Lakshmanan. The report reads , “Hoping that his [Justice Lakshmanan] efforts and jockeying for one more term as chairman would bear fruit, Lakshmanan was still holding on to the plush bungalow allotted to him in his capacity as Chairman of the Commission. So hopeful was he about getting one more term that he was even paying penal rent every month”. 

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