S. H. Kapadia Explained

Sarosh Homi Kapadia
Order1:38th
Office1:Chief Justice of India
Termstart1:12 May 2010
Termend1:28 September 2012
Appointer1:Pratibha Patil
Predecessor1:K. G. Balakrishnan
Successor1:Altamas Kabir
Order2:2nd
Office2:Chief Justice of Uttarakhand
Termstart2:5 August 2003
Termend2:17 December 2003
Predecessor2:Prakash Chandra Verma
Successor2:Prakash Chandra Verma
Birth Date:29 September 1947
Birth Place:Mumbai, India
Death Place:Mumbai, India
Spouse:Shahnaz Kapadia

Sarosh Homi Kapadia (29 September 1947  - 4 January 2016) was the 38th Chief Justice of India. He was the first chief justice born in independent India.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Career

S. H. Kapadia was born in Mumbai in 1947.[5] He graduated from Government Law College, Mumbai which is the oldest law college in Asia. Kapadia started his career as a class IV employee.[6] He later became a law clerk in a lawyer's office in Mumbai. He joined Gagrat & Co., a law firm, as a clerk and later went on to work with Feroze Damania who was a highly respected "firebrand" labour lawyer. He later joined as an advocate in the Bombay High Court on 10 September 1974.

Kapadia was appointed an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on 8 October 1991 and on 23 March 1993 he was appointed a permanent judge. On 5 August 2003 he became the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. On 18 December 2003 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court.[5] On 12 May 2010 he was sworn in as the Chief Justice of India by President Pratibha Patil. He retired on 29 September 2012. During his tenure as chief justice[7] he was the chairman of the General Council of the Gujarat National Law University and the Visitor of the National Law School of India University.[8]

Personal life

Kapadia was married to Shahnaz and has a son who is a chartered accountant and a daughter. Kapadia was a devout Zoroastrian. He was also interested in economics, public finance, theoretical physics, and Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. He died on 4 January 2016 in Mumbai.[9]

Notable judgments

Quashing of the appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner

See also: Central Vigilance Commission and P. J. Thomas (Indian administrative officer).

On 3 March 2011, a three-member bench headed by Kapadia, quashed the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Polayil Joseph Thomas, made by the High Power Committee comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj (dissenting). The judgment caused severe embarrassment for the government and made Manmohan Singh admit the error in appointment. While the judgement was welcomed by most media pundits,[10] some experts have expressed their concerns of miscarriage of justice. Former IAS officer, S. M. Murshed writes, 'the ratio decidendi of the Hon’ble Supreme Court is a bit difficult to comprehend, for, in the last analysis, the entire case against Thomas rested on a solitary, misconceived FIR which was filed as an afterthought and which should never have been filed. Given the facts, Manmohan Singh did no substantive wrong and he did not commit any error (in appointing Thomas).'[11]

Dissenting judgement in Lalu Prasad Yadav's bail cancellation case

See also: Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Kapadia was part of the three-member Supreme Court bench that decided a PIL filed by two NDA leaders seeking the cancellation of bail of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi for their interference in the judicial process in the disproportionate assets (DA) and Income Tax cases against them.

The verdict, by majority of 2:1, went in favour of Prasad but Kapadia gave a dissenting judgement saying the income tax department should have filed an appeal against the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order. On the issue of promotion of judge Munni Lal Paswan, he said, while competence and suitability of two other judges, who were promoted to the post of Special Judge along with Paswan, were determined on the basis of annual confidential report (ACRs) and inspecting the judges' reports, the criteria were not applied while promoting Paswan who had been found to be slow in disposing cases.[12] [13]

Vodafone judgment

The Vodafone judgment was among the most high-profile of Kapadia's tenure.[14]

Others

Kapadia delivered a landmark judgement relating to succession of property in 30 April 2005 in which he ruled out the possibility of conducting the DNA test.[15]

Quotes

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Agencies. Justice S H Kapadia appointed as new CJI. 19 June 2012. The Indian Express. 30 April 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121005065411/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Justice-S-H-Kapadia-appointed-as-new-CJI/613497/. 5 October 2012.
  2. News: Aditi Phadnis. Aditi Phadnis. Newsmaker: S H Kapadia. 19 June 2012. Business Standard. 14 May 2010.
  3. News: Sarosh Homi Kapadia Appointed Chief Justice of India. 19 June 2012. Parsi Khabar. 30 April 2010.
  4. Web site: Honourable Mr. Justice S. H. Kapadia.. Bombay High Court. 19 June 2012.
  5. Web site: CJ & Sitting Judges - Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.H. Kapadia. Supreme Court of India website. 30 April 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101130042117/http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/sjud/shk.htm. 30 November 2010.
  6. Web site: Forbes India Magazine - SH Kapadia: Pilgrim of Justice. Forbes India. en-US. 2017-01-10.
  7. Web site: SH Kapadia, end of an era: India's greatest ever CJI or missed opportunity? How will you remember the legacy?. Ganz. Kian. www.legallyindia.com. 2017-01-10.
  8. News: Justice S H Kapadia sworn in as new Chief Justice of India. https://web.archive.org/web/20130526140733/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-05-12/india/28294862_1_justice-kapadia-strict-judicial-discipline-ninth-schedule. dead. 26 May 2013. 12 May 2010. The Times of India. 12 May 2010.
  9. Web site: Former chief justice of India SH Kapadia passes away . . 5 January 2015 . 5 January 2016 . "Top legal luminary and former Supreme Court chief justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia passed away late on Monday, a family member said.".
  10. News: A severe indictment . Chennai, India . The Hindu . 3 March 2011.
  11. News: Murshed. S. M.. PJ Thomas: Saga of a Man Wronged. 19 June 2012. Boloji.com. 29 Mar 2011.
  12. News: SC reprieve for Lalu PIL to cancel bail rejected . 22 August 2006 . 16 May 2012.
  13. News: Lalu, Rabri win a reprieve in SC . https://archive.today/20130103070402/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-08-22/india/27809402_1_justice-kapadia-rabri-devi-income-tax . dead . 3 January 2013 . 22 August 2006 . . 16 May 2012.
  14. Web site: The Man Who Ruled in Vodafone's Favor . Wall Street Journal . 18 February 2013.
  15. Web site: SH Kapadia. www.business-standard.com. 2019-11-18.
  16. News: Minorities can rise to top jobs only in India: Chief Justice of India. https://web.archive.org/web/20120817083144/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-16/india/33232149_1_justice-kapadia-chief-justice-minority-communities. dead. 17 August 2012. 16 August 2012. The Times of India. 16 August 2012.
  17. News: Accountability law must not encroach on judicial independence, cautions CJI. 16 August 2012. The Indian Express. 16 August 2012.
  18. News: Judges Should Not Govern Nation: CJI. https://archive.today/20130130212610/http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=773144. dead. 30 January 2013. 25 August 2012. Outlook India. 25 August 2012.
  19. News: Their crusading lordships. 15 October 2012. India Today. 16 November 2011.

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