Published On: January 04, 2021 at 13:30 IST
Judge of the Supreme Court of India
NAME- Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph
PROFESSION- Judge of the Supreme Court
BORN- 17/06/1958
PLACE OF BIRTH- Athirampuzha, Kerala
FATHER’S NAME- K.K. Mathew
MOTHER’S NAME- Ammini Tharakan
SPOUSE- N/A
SIBLINGS- N/A
CHILDREN- N/A
EDUCATION- Secondary education from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kochi and New Delhi.
Later he joined Loyola College, Chennai, and Government Law College, Ernakulam for graduation and further studies.
AWARDS- N/A
SPECIALISATION- Civil, Constitutional and Writ matters.
COMMITTEE/ PANEL HEADED- A bench headed by Justice Joseph had quashed the imposition of President’s Rule in 2016 by the Narendra Modi Led BJP government in the state of Uttarakhand.
While being a judge at the Kerala HC, a Bench Comprising Justice Joseph ordered demolition of Kapico resorts constructed illegally on Nediathuruthu Island in Alappuzha district.
BACKGROUND- Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph is a Judge of Supreme Court of India. He is former Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court. Before his appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court of Uttarakhand on 31 July 2014, he had served as a Judge of Kerala High Court for more than 9 years.
He was born on 17th June, 1958 to K.K. Mathew (father) and Ammini Tharakan (mother). His father was a judge of the Supreme Court of India and Chairman of 10th Law Commission. He completed his secondary education from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kochi and New Delhi. Later he joined Loyola College, Chennai, and Government Law College, Ernakulam for graduation and further studies.
CAREER TIMELINE–
1982- Enrolled as an advocate at High Court of Delhi.
1983- Shifted his practice to Kerala High Court.
1986- Started his Independent Practice and specialized in civil, constitutional, and writ matters.
2004- Appointed as the Permanent Judge of Kerala High Court.
2014- Appointed as the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.
2018- Appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
LANDMARK JUDGEMENTS –
- Harish Rawat Vs Union of India Writ Petition (M/S) No. 795 of 2016
He delivered a judgment in Harish Rawat v Union of India (2016) with far reaching political implication. This case invalidated the President’s rule imposed by the Governor to restore the Harish Rawat led Congress Government in Uttarakhand. It was one of the rare instances where the Court had restored the previous government after striking down the Governor’s rule.
- Reservation in Promotion – Jarnail Singh Vs Lacchmi Narain Gupta 2018 SCC OnLine SC 164
The Court looked into whether reservations for SCs and STs should extend to promotions, by assessing its 2006 Nagaraj judgment. It will now give clarifications on its 2018 judgment.
- CBI Dispute – Alok Verma Vs Union of India Writ Petition (Civil) No(S). 1309/2018; Common Cause Vs Union of India (1994) 3 SCC 394
The Supreme Court quashed orders issued by the Central Government divesting the CBI Director, Mr. Alok Verma, of his responsibilities.
- Rafale Fighter Jet Deal – Manohar Lal Sharma Vs Narendra Damodardas Modi WRIT PETITION [CRIMINAL] NO.225 OF 2018
In 2018, the court in a unanimous judgment decided not to order a court monitored investigation of the Union government’s purchase of Rafale fighter aircraft. In 2019, it rejected to review its judgment.
- Triple Talaq – Shayara Bano Vs Union of India (2017) 9 SCC 1
A Constitution Bench has declared that the practice of instantaneous Triple Talaq is unconstitutional.
- Gujarat Police Encounters – Javed Akhtar Vs State of Gujarat (2017) 4 GLR 2758
The Supreme Court is monitoring 22 alleged “fake encounters” by the Gujarat Police between 2002 and 2006.
- Implementation of Section 66A IT Act – People’s Union for Civil Liberties Vs Union of India Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 199/2013
A three-judge Bench will issue further directions to ensure implementation of the judgment in Shreya Singhal v Union of India, which declared Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (the IT Act) unconstitutional.
- Constitutionality of Sedition – Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha & Anr Vs Union of India Writ Petition (Criminal) No.106/2021
The Supreme Court will decide if Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, that criminalises sedition, is unconstitutional.
CONTROVERSIES– According to media reports on 11 January 2018, the Supreme Court collegium has recommended the name of Justice Joseph for their appointment as judge of the Supreme Court. While recommending Justice Joseph’s name for elevation to the Supreme Court, the 5-member collegium unanimously. Despite the strongly worded recommendation of the collegium, there still exists some suspense on its acceptance by the NDA government. There were media reports speculating that the government had returned the collegium recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph to Supreme Court bench, which was later dismissed by unidentified sources from law ministry.
REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT –Appointed as the Permanent Judge of Kerala High Court.
Appointed as the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.
Appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India.