Markandey Katju
Encyclopedia
Justice Markandey Katju is the Chairman, Press Council of India
. He was formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of India
.
's LLB examination of 1968, after which he practiced law in the Allahabad High Court specializing in Labour Law, Taxation and Writ Petitions. Justice Katju is keenly interested in academics, and has a wide range of interests, including Sanskrit, Urdu, History, Philosophy, Science, Sociology etc., apart from his interest in Jurisprudence. He was awarded (Honoris Causa) a Doctorate of Philosophy from Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit University, New Delhi, for his book Mimansa Rules of Interpretation, and a Doctorate of Law from Amity University. He is a Honorary Professor of Law at the National Law University, New Delhi and Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow.
His background is also noteworthy because of his family’s achievements in the fields of Law and Politics. Justice Katju is the son of late Justice S.N.Katju, formerly a Judge of the Allahabad High Court
. His grandfather Dr.Kailash Nath Katju, was one of India's leading lawyers and participated in the country's freedom movement. Dr. K. N. Katju was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Governor of West Bengal and Orissa, as well as the Union Law, Home and Defence Minister. Justice Katju's uncle, Justice B.N.Katju, was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court
.
Justice Markandey Katju is married to Rupa and has two children, a son and a daughter.
in 1991. He served as the Chief Justice of three Indian High Courts: The Allahabad High Court
, appointed in August 2004 in an Acting capacity; the Madras High Court
, appointed in November 2004, and the Delhi High Court
, appointed in October 2005.
Justice Katju was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India in April 2006. He retired from this position on September 19, 2011, after serving the Indian judiciary for 20 years.
His courtroom was one of the fastest in India, disposing off 100-plus matters in a week.
Justice Katju is variously described as "brilliant","bold","one of the best","a maverick". His strong belief in judicial restraint has been contrasted with some unconventional opinions he delivered. The contradiction may be partly explained in his own words: “A judge should restrain from challenging policy decisions in economic matters by the Government, though be an activist in cases of personal liberty.”
Some of his Articles and Speeches, include the following:
In 2005, while still serving as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Katju spoke about judges initiating "Contempt of Court" proceedings. His view was that the authority of judges rests on public confidence, and not on the power of contempt. The Indian jurist Fali S Nariman commended Justice Katju's view in his article "A judge above contempt" published on August 5, 2005 in the Indian Express.
In January 2009, while hearing a petition filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath about violence against Christians in Orissa, Justice Katju observed, "We can't tolerate persecution of religious minorities. If your government cannot control such incidents, then quit office." The Bench directed the government to provide adequate security and compensation to the aggrieved parties.
In July 2009, Justice Katju apologised for commenting, during the hearing of a case, that students cannot insist on wearing beards as this would lead to the "Talibanisation" of India. The comment led to much controversy and Justice Katju and Justice Raveendran later withdrew the related order, stating "During the hearing, certain observations were made by one of us. His intentions were not to offend anyone. However, if any one's feeling has been hurt, he apologises and expresses regret in the matter."
In Prafull Goradia V. Union of India, a bench of the Supreme Court comprising also Justice Katju, dismissed petitioner's claim that Haj subsidies provided by the Government of India were unconstitutional. The Bench observed that, "the object of Article 27 is to maintain secularism, and hence we must construe it from that angle."
Following this judgement, In the case of Md Sukur Ali Vs State of Assam, a division Bench of Justice Katju and Justice Mishra ruled that criminal defendants have a right to counsel. "Article 21 which guarantees protection of life and personal liberty is the most important of all the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the constitution," the apex court bench said. They further observed that, "In the absence of a counsel, for whatever reasons, the case should not be decided forthwith against the accused but in such a situation the court should appoint a counsel who is practising on the criminal side as amicus curiae and decide the case after fixing another date and hearing him," This judgment received both national and international recognition.
Justice Katju's opinion in D. Velusamy vs D. Patchaiammal, delivered on October 21, 2010, relating to the maintenance of a woman in a live-in relationship, was the first time the apex court laid the legal framework for recognizing a woman's rights in a live-in relationship.
In September 2010, while inaugurating a national seminar on 'Freedom of the press and journalistic ethics' in Kerela, Justice Katju said that the media should play an important role in waging a cultural struggle to combat feudal and backward ideas in India.
Justice Katju issued notices to the Centre and state governments directing them to file compliance reports on steps taken to rehabilitate sex workers in the case of Budhadev Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal. The accused had brutally murdered a sex worker and claimed leniency in his petition in the Supreme Court, citing the victim's profession. The court dismissed the petition, stating that "prostitutes have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India." The court further observed that "This is a case of brutal murder of a sex worker. Sex workers are human beings and no one has a right to assault or murder them."
In November 2010, in a strong indictment of a judge of the Allahabad High Court for passing orders on extraneous considerations, Justice Katju directed the Chief Justice of the High Court to take action against the judge concerned, and some other judges facing complaints. Making a reference to Shakespeare, Justice Katju famously noted that "something is rotten in the Allahabad High Court". The observation was contested by the Allahabad High Court, but the Supreme Court refused to expunge the remark.
In a judgement delivered on February 1, 2011, Justice Katju highlighted the malaise of land-grabbing of village community land by private and commercial entities. He noted that the purpose of village community land is community benefit like schools, playgrounds, water storage facilities etc., hence he directed the state governments to prepare schemes for eviction of illegal occupants of this land.
On March 8, 2011, Justice Katju delivered a "landmark" judgement legalizing passive euthanasia—or withdrawal of life-support systems—for patients who are brain dead or in a permanent vegetative state, and whom doctors have lost hope of reviving even with the most advanced medical aid. The detailed process of passive euthanasia includes strict guidelines that must be met, including a case-by-case review of medical condition by a team of court-appointed doctors and prior approval of the High Court. The Judge further observed that Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, according to which attempt to suicide was a criminal offence, was archaic and needed review. He said, "A person attempts suicide in a depression, and hence he needs help, rather than punishment. We therefore recommend to Parliament to consider the feasibility of deleting Section 309 from the Indian Penal Code." The judgement received widespread commendation as "brave", well researched and "path breaking"
On March 16, 2011, in an unusual step, Justice Katju appealed to Pakistan to consider granting remission to Gopal Dass, an Indian prisoner detained in the Lahore central jail for 27 years. He based this appeal on humanitarian grounds and on "the quality of mercy". The supreme court bench headed by Katju noted, "We cannot give any directions to Pakistan authorities because we have no jurisdiction over them", however it went on to quote a couplet by Faiz, “Qafas uddas hai yaaro sabaa se kuch to kaho, Kaheen to beher-i-khuda aaj zikr-i-yaar chale”, to seek mercy for Dass." Pakistan took cognizance of this appeal of the Indian court, and within a few days the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, decided to remit the remaining jail term of Gopal Das and to release him.
On May 9, 2011 Justice Katju directed Trial/High courts to award death sentences to perpetrators of "honour killings". Honour killing is the killing of a member of a family, or social group, by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community. In his judgement, Katju said that it was time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices, which were a slur on our nation.
On May 13, 2011, a Supreme Court bench involving Justice Katju said that fake encounters are nothing but cold-blooded brutal murders which should be treated as the rarest of rare cases and police personnel responsible for it should be awarded death sentence. The observation was made while rejecting bail to Mumbai policemen involved in the fake encounter at Nana-Nani Park at Versova. A similar observation was made while hearing the fake encounter case of an alleged gangster by Rajasthan Police on October 23, 2006.
On June 17, 2011, Justice Katju made a personal appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
to release on "humanitarian grounds" Khalil Chishty, an elderly Pakistani virologist in Indian prison since 1992. Justice Katju expressed fear that if Chishty is not released forthwith, he may die in the jail by the time his appeal is decided by the Rajasthan high court. The move did not appear to go down well with the main opposition party BJP
, which found as "odd" the appeal to free 80-year-old Chishty, a murder convict. "It is odd that an SC judge is writing to the PM for securing the release of a Pakistani prisoner, even in his individual capacity," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad
said. . However, other than the BJP, his appeal found widespread support in India. Given the response, the Prime Minister of India instructed the Home Minister to examine the request of Justice Katju.
Press Council of India
The Press Council Of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained. However, it is also empowered to hold...
. He was formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
.
Family / Background
Justice Markandey Katju was born on September 20, 1946 in Lucknow, India. He is of Kashmiri Brahmin descent. Justice Katju topped the merit list of the Allahabad UniversityAllahabad University
Allahabad University , is a premier Central University located in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Its origins lie in the Muir Central College, named after Lt...
's LLB examination of 1968, after which he practiced law in the Allahabad High Court specializing in Labour Law, Taxation and Writ Petitions. Justice Katju is keenly interested in academics, and has a wide range of interests, including Sanskrit, Urdu, History, Philosophy, Science, Sociology etc., apart from his interest in Jurisprudence. He was awarded (Honoris Causa) a Doctorate of Philosophy from Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit University, New Delhi, for his book Mimansa Rules of Interpretation, and a Doctorate of Law from Amity University. He is a Honorary Professor of Law at the National Law University, New Delhi and Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow.
His background is also noteworthy because of his family’s achievements in the fields of Law and Politics. Justice Katju is the son of late Justice S.N.Katju, formerly a Judge of the Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is a high court having jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh since 1950...
. His grandfather Dr.Kailash Nath Katju, was one of India's leading lawyers and participated in the country's freedom movement. Dr. K. N. Katju was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Governor of West Bengal and Orissa, as well as the Union Law, Home and Defence Minister. Justice Katju's uncle, Justice B.N.Katju, was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is a high court having jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh since 1950...
.
Justice Markandey Katju is married to Rupa and has two children, a son and a daughter.
Judge
Justice Katju was appointed as a Judge of the Allahabad High CourtAllahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is a high court having jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh since 1950...
in 1991. He served as the Chief Justice of three Indian High Courts: The Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is a high court having jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh since 1950...
, appointed in August 2004 in an Acting capacity; the Madras High Court
Madras High Court
The Madras High Court is a senior court located at Chennai , in India. The court buildings, which are believed to be the second largest judicial complex in the world, are located near the beach, in one of the city's major business districts....
, appointed in November 2004, and the Delhi High Court
Delhi High Court
The High Court of Delhi was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.-History:...
, appointed in October 2005.
Justice Katju was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India in April 2006. He retired from this position on September 19, 2011, after serving the Indian judiciary for 20 years.
His courtroom was one of the fastest in India, disposing off 100-plus matters in a week.
Justice Katju is variously described as "brilliant","bold","one of the best","a maverick". His strong belief in judicial restraint has been contrasted with some unconventional opinions he delivered. The contradiction may be partly explained in his own words: “A judge should restrain from challenging policy decisions in economic matters by the Government, though be an activist in cases of personal liberty.”
Associations
Justice Katju has served as a Member, International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARIJ).Publications
He has written several books, which include the following:- Law in the Scientific Era
- Interpretation of Taxing Statutes
- Mimansa Rules of Interpretation
- Domestic Enquiry
Some of his Articles and Speeches, include the following:
- Injustice to Urdu in India, published in the Tribune on August 3, 2008
- Sanskrit as a language of Science, speech delivered in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on October 13, 2009
- Kalidas-Ghalib Academy for Mutual Understanding
- The Role of Art, Literature and Media
- Ideal and reality: media’s role in India
- Looking back at the Caste System
- The Ideal of Women's emancipation
- Importance of Liberty and Democracy in India
- Global Economic Scenario
- The Hart-Fuller Debate by Justice Markandey Katju – Judge, Allahabad High Court
- The Role of Media in India
Notable Judgements and Opinions
As Chief Justice of Madras High Court, in the case of Rama Muthuramalingam v. Dy.S.P, AIR 2005 Madras 1, on the constitutional question of inter se relationship among judiciary, Legislature and Executive, he emphasized judicial restraint and the impropriety of the judiciary encroaching into the legislative or executive domain. He re-iterated this two years later, while he was a Supreme Court Judge, in the case of Divisional Manager, Aravali Golf Club v. Chander Hass.In 2005, while still serving as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Katju spoke about judges initiating "Contempt of Court" proceedings. His view was that the authority of judges rests on public confidence, and not on the power of contempt. The Indian jurist Fali S Nariman commended Justice Katju's view in his article "A judge above contempt" published on August 5, 2005 in the Indian Express.
In January 2009, while hearing a petition filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath about violence against Christians in Orissa, Justice Katju observed, "We can't tolerate persecution of religious minorities. If your government cannot control such incidents, then quit office." The Bench directed the government to provide adequate security and compensation to the aggrieved parties.
In July 2009, Justice Katju apologised for commenting, during the hearing of a case, that students cannot insist on wearing beards as this would lead to the "Talibanisation" of India. The comment led to much controversy and Justice Katju and Justice Raveendran later withdrew the related order, stating "During the hearing, certain observations were made by one of us. His intentions were not to offend anyone. However, if any one's feeling has been hurt, he apologises and expresses regret in the matter."
In Prafull Goradia V. Union of India, a bench of the Supreme Court comprising also Justice Katju, dismissed petitioner's claim that Haj subsidies provided by the Government of India were unconstitutional. The Bench observed that, "the object of Article 27 is to maintain secularism, and hence we must construe it from that angle."
Following this judgement, In the case of Md Sukur Ali Vs State of Assam, a division Bench of Justice Katju and Justice Mishra ruled that criminal defendants have a right to counsel. "Article 21 which guarantees protection of life and personal liberty is the most important of all the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the constitution," the apex court bench said. They further observed that, "In the absence of a counsel, for whatever reasons, the case should not be decided forthwith against the accused but in such a situation the court should appoint a counsel who is practising on the criminal side as amicus curiae and decide the case after fixing another date and hearing him," This judgment received both national and international recognition.
Justice Katju's opinion in D. Velusamy vs D. Patchaiammal, delivered on October 21, 2010, relating to the maintenance of a woman in a live-in relationship, was the first time the apex court laid the legal framework for recognizing a woman's rights in a live-in relationship.
In September 2010, while inaugurating a national seminar on 'Freedom of the press and journalistic ethics' in Kerela, Justice Katju said that the media should play an important role in waging a cultural struggle to combat feudal and backward ideas in India.
Justice Katju issued notices to the Centre and state governments directing them to file compliance reports on steps taken to rehabilitate sex workers in the case of Budhadev Karmaskar vs State of West Bengal. The accused had brutally murdered a sex worker and claimed leniency in his petition in the Supreme Court, citing the victim's profession. The court dismissed the petition, stating that "prostitutes have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India." The court further observed that "This is a case of brutal murder of a sex worker. Sex workers are human beings and no one has a right to assault or murder them."
In November 2010, in a strong indictment of a judge of the Allahabad High Court for passing orders on extraneous considerations, Justice Katju directed the Chief Justice of the High Court to take action against the judge concerned, and some other judges facing complaints. Making a reference to Shakespeare, Justice Katju famously noted that "something is rotten in the Allahabad High Court". The observation was contested by the Allahabad High Court, but the Supreme Court refused to expunge the remark.
In a judgement delivered on February 1, 2011, Justice Katju highlighted the malaise of land-grabbing of village community land by private and commercial entities. He noted that the purpose of village community land is community benefit like schools, playgrounds, water storage facilities etc., hence he directed the state governments to prepare schemes for eviction of illegal occupants of this land.
On March 8, 2011, Justice Katju delivered a "landmark" judgement legalizing passive euthanasia—or withdrawal of life-support systems—for patients who are brain dead or in a permanent vegetative state, and whom doctors have lost hope of reviving even with the most advanced medical aid. The detailed process of passive euthanasia includes strict guidelines that must be met, including a case-by-case review of medical condition by a team of court-appointed doctors and prior approval of the High Court. The Judge further observed that Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, according to which attempt to suicide was a criminal offence, was archaic and needed review. He said, "A person attempts suicide in a depression, and hence he needs help, rather than punishment. We therefore recommend to Parliament to consider the feasibility of deleting Section 309 from the Indian Penal Code." The judgement received widespread commendation as "brave", well researched and "path breaking"
On March 16, 2011, in an unusual step, Justice Katju appealed to Pakistan to consider granting remission to Gopal Dass, an Indian prisoner detained in the Lahore central jail for 27 years. He based this appeal on humanitarian grounds and on "the quality of mercy". The supreme court bench headed by Katju noted, "We cannot give any directions to Pakistan authorities because we have no jurisdiction over them", however it went on to quote a couplet by Faiz, “Qafas uddas hai yaaro sabaa se kuch to kaho, Kaheen to beher-i-khuda aaj zikr-i-yaar chale”, to seek mercy for Dass." Pakistan took cognizance of this appeal of the Indian court, and within a few days the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, decided to remit the remaining jail term of Gopal Das and to release him.
On May 9, 2011 Justice Katju directed Trial/High courts to award death sentences to perpetrators of "honour killings". Honour killing is the killing of a member of a family, or social group, by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community. In his judgement, Katju said that it was time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices, which were a slur on our nation.
On May 13, 2011, a Supreme Court bench involving Justice Katju said that fake encounters are nothing but cold-blooded brutal murders which should be treated as the rarest of rare cases and police personnel responsible for it should be awarded death sentence. The observation was made while rejecting bail to Mumbai policemen involved in the fake encounter at Nana-Nani Park at Versova. A similar observation was made while hearing the fake encounter case of an alleged gangster by Rajasthan Police on October 23, 2006.
On June 17, 2011, Justice Katju made a personal appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
to release on "humanitarian grounds" Khalil Chishty, an elderly Pakistani virologist in Indian prison since 1992. Justice Katju expressed fear that if Chishty is not released forthwith, he may die in the jail by the time his appeal is decided by the Rajasthan high court. The move did not appear to go down well with the main opposition party BJP
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
, which found as "odd" the appeal to free 80-year-old Chishty, a murder convict. "It is odd that an SC judge is writing to the PM for securing the release of a Pakistani prisoner, even in his individual capacity," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Ravi Shankar Prasad is an Indian lawyer and politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party . He represents Bihar in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India...
said. . However, other than the BJP, his appeal found widespread support in India. Given the response, the Prime Minister of India instructed the Home Minister to examine the request of Justice Katju.