noted judgments in the Ahmedabad St. Xavier's College v. State of Gujarat (1974) and State of Kerala v. N. M. Thomas (1975) cases. After resigning from the Supreme Court on getting superseded by Justice M. H. Beg to the office of the Chief Justice of India, he served as the central minister of law and justice for a very short period of three days in the Charan Singh Ministry after the fall of the Indira Gandhi Government and was later made a combined opposition-sponsored candidate for election as President in 1982, losing to Zail Singh. In 1999, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in recognition of his career in judicial service, the second-highest civilian honor given by the Government of India. Early life and background Khanna was born in Amritsar, Punjab in 1912, the son of lawyer and freedom fighter Sarb Dyal Khanna. The family hailed from a trading tradition, but Hans's father had become a leading lawyer and later, the mayor of Amritsar. Hans's mother died at a young age, and the household was run by his grandmother. Khanna took interest in law from an early age and did complete his schooling at DAV High School, Amritsar. After completing his schooling at D.A.V. High School, Amritsar (1918–1928), He studied at the Hindu College, Amritsar, and Khalsa College, Amritsar, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, before joining the Law College, Lahore (1932–1934). He married Uma Mehra in 1934 at the age of 22. After completing his graduation in law, he practiced law primarily in Amritsar, dealing mainly with civil cases, and soon gathered a large practice which he maintained till his elevation to the bench in 1952. Early judicial career In January 1952 he was nominated by Sir Eric Weston, Chief Justice of Punjab, as District and Sessions Judge. This was "an uncommon appointment.... it had long been the practice to appoint only from the civil service". He served in the district courts at Ferozepur, and then Ambala. He became known for his decision to convict India's leading industrialist Ramkrishna Dalmia of corruption. Dalmia was to serve several years in Tihar Jail. He moved as District and Sessions Judge, Delhi until he was appointed Judge of the Punjab High Court in 1962. On the formation of the Delhi High Court, he joined the bench as one of its first judges. He conducted the inquiry into corruption charges against Biju Patnaik