MADAN LOKUR

Jurist

NAME: Madan Bhimarao Lokur

PROFESSION: Former Judge of Supreme Court of India

BORN: 31 December 1953.

EDUCATION: Graduation in History (Hons.) from St. Stephen’s College Delhi University

LL.B from Faculty of Law, Delhi University.

SPECIALISATION: Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Revenue and Service laws.

COMMITTEE/PANEL HEADED:

• He has been the member of the Meditation & Conciliation Project Committee of the Supreme Court of India since its inception in 2005.
• Appointed as one-Man Committee to suggest improvements in the working of the Homes and organization under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection and Children) Act, 2000 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007.

UPBRINGING & EDUCATION: He did his schooling from Modern School, New Delhi. Thereafter, he went for his ISC examinations at St. Joseph’s College, Allahabad. He did his graduation in History (Hons.) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University in 1974 and obtained LL.B. degree from Faculty of Law, Delhi University in 1977.

CAREER TIMELINE:

• He enrolled as an Advocate on 28th July 1977 and practised at the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court.
• He Qualified the examination and enrolled as Advocate-on-Record in the Supreme Court in 1981.
• He was appointed as the Editor, ILR (Delhi Services) in February, 1983 and continued as such till elevation to the Delhi High Court.
• He was Standing Counsel for the Central Government from 1900 to 1996.
• He was designated as Senior Advocate in February 1997.
• He was appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India on 14^th July 1998.
• He was then appointed as an Additional Judge of Delhi High Court on 19^th February 1999.
• He also appointed as Permanent Judge of that High Court on 5^th July, 1999.
• He served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court from 13^th February 2010 to 21 May 2010.
• He was appointed as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court on 24 June 2010 and held the office till 14^th November 2011.
• He also served as Chief Justice of High Court of Andhra Pradesh from 15^th 2011 to 3^rd June 2012.
• Later, he was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court on 4^th June, 2012.
• He held the office till 31 December, 2018.
• He has authored 159 judgements (as of 14^th December 2018)

LAND MARK JUDGEMENTS :

Justice Lokur is well known for presiding matters of social justice, earning his Bench the “Social Justice Bench.”

As he was the part of the Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court with Justice PV Sanjay Kumar struck down Govt of India’s decision to allocate 4.5% sub-quota reservation for minorities.

Illegal Mining Scam

As the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice Lokur suspended and ordered prosecution of Special CBI Judge T Pattabhirama Rao who granted bail to G. Janardhana Reddy, who is involved in illegal mining.

Krishna Kumar vs State of Bihar

In 1989, the Bihar Government passed the Bihar Non-Government Sanskrit Schools (Taking Over of Management and Control) Ordinance. The ordinance provided foe taking over 429 Sanskrit schools in the State of Bihar. The services of teachers and other employees of the schools were to stand transferred to the state government. In January 2017, he wrote a partly dissenting opinion in Krishna Kumar v State of Bihar. In a 4:3 decision, the SC held that mechanical promulgating of ordinance without laying it before the Legislature/ Parliament is a fraud on the Constitution. Justice Lokur dissented on this point holding that non-laying of Ordinance before the legislature doesnot take away the effect of ordinance. However, he concurred with the majority opinion that an ordinance on its own cannot create irreversible right in the citizen.

He also authored a separate concurring opinion in Abhiram Singh vs. Commachen case where he widened the scope of Section 123(3) of representation of Peoples Act to hold that politicians addressing the electorates on religion, caste, language will qualify as corrupt practices leading to their disqualification. 

Along with Justice Deepak Gupta, he ruled in Independent Thought v UOI case that sex with minor wife is rape.