Mon Nov 11 07:12:43 UTC 2024: ## New Chief Justice of India Embarks on Quest for Lost Ancestral Home
**Amritsar, India** – India’s newest Chief Justice, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, has taken on a unique mission amidst his monumental appointment: tracing his family’s pre-Independence era home in Amritsar. The house, built by his grandfather, renowned lawyer Sarav Dayal, holds deep sentimental value for the Chief Justice.
Sources close to Justice Khanna reveal that during his visits to Amritsar, he makes a pilgrimage of sorts to Katra Sher Singh, the neighborhood where his grandfather’s house once stood. Despite the changes in the area over time, he continues to search for the structure built by his ancestor.
Sarav Dayal was a prominent lawyer who, in 1919, was part of the Congress Committee formed to address the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Around that period, he purchased two houses – one in Katra Sher Singh, near the site of the tragedy, and another in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh.
The Amritsar house, unfortunately, was desecrated and burned during India’s partition in 1947, but was later restored by Sarav Dayal. Justice Khanna has fond memories of visiting the house as a five-year-old with his father, where a sign reading “Bauji” (grandfather) marked the entrance. The sign is now kept at the family’s Dalhousie home. The Amritsar house, however, was eventually sold in 1970, after his grandfather’s passing.
Though decades have passed, Chief Justice Khanna continues to hold the house in his memory. His visits to Amritsar are always marked by a renewed search for his lost home in Katra Sher Singh.
The Chief Justice also fondly recalls his grandfather’s teachings, especially his advice to avoid bringing school books during holidays, as the education he offered went beyond the confines of textbooks.
First Piper 