Born as a Dalit, Justice Balakrishnan overcame many obstacles to become the chief justice of India through sheer hard work, dedication and integrity. He was sworn in as the Chief Justice of India on 14 January 2007 by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.Konakuppakkattil Gopinathan Balakrishnan was born in a poor Dalit family of Thalayolaparambu village in Kottayam district of Kerala on May 12, 1945, when the society in the state was totally caste ridden.

His parents, Gopinathan and Sharada, never dreamt that their son would become the chief Justice of the apex court of the country one day. They belonged to the Pulaya community, a scheduled caste, which was considered one of the lowest of all castes in Kerala.

According to Justice Balakrishnan his parents were the only source of inspiration for him: "Though my father was only a matriculate and my mother had her schooling up to the seventh standard, they wanted to give their children the best education."

After completing his primary education at the government school in his village, he joined the Maharaja's College at Ernakulam, where he studied science. He used to trudge more than five kms daily to reach his school. Balakrishnan took his B. L. degree from the Maharaja's Law College and enrolled as an advocate in the Kerala Bar Council in 1968. He then completed his LLM in 1971. His father Gopinathan was the first person in the family who did matriculation. He later retired as a clerk from the Kerala judicial services. "It was due to his efforts that we all are well-educated and well-settled now," says Balakrishnan.

Balakrishnan was appointed as a munsif in the Kerala Judicial Services in 1973 and later resigned from the services and resumed practice as an advocate in the Kerala High Court.

According to him, "both advocates and judges have an equal responsibility towards the society. So both deserve equal respect from the people". In 1985, he was appointed as a judge of the Kerala High Court, and was transferred to the Gujarat High Court in 1997. He became the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court in 1998. In 1999, he assumed charge as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras. And on June 8, 2000, he was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Justice Balakrishnan has given several rulings which have had a far reaching effect on the society in his judicial career. His judgement asking the election commission to debar the political parties, which impose hartals on the public, was warmly welcomed by the public. "The forcible strikes by political parties has had a very bad effect on common people. You can see how patients, passengers and children suffer during strikes," Justice Balakrishnan told a journalist.

During his tenure in the Supreme Court, he delivered several landmark judgements. These included an order, which made the mid-day meal programme in schools a statutory requirement. This order brought relief to millions of poor children who had to discontinue their studies due to poverty. Recently a division bench headed by him held as unconstitutional forcible narco-analysis, polygraph and brain electrical activation profile or brain-mapping tests by the investigating agencies which were raising concerns on the human rights of the people.

Justice Balakrishnan has participated in a number of international seminars and delivered thought provoking lectures at various Universities on legal topics. After retirement in 2010, Justice Balakrishnan was appointed as the sixth chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India.