Prafulla Chandra Pant

Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant (born 30 August 1952) is an Indian author and a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India who is currently serving as an honourable member of the National Human Rights Commission of India(due to retire on 30 August, 2022) Prior to his appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of India, he had previously served as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court at Shillong.[1][2]

Justice

Prafulla Chandra Pant
Judge of the Supreme Court of India
In office
13 August 2014 – 29 August 2017
Appointed byPranab Mukherjee
2nd Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court
In office
20 September 2013 – 12 August 2014
Appointed byPranab Mukherjee
(President of India)
Preceded byJustice T. Meena Kumari
Succeeded byJustice Uma Nath Singh
Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court
In office
19 February 2008 – 19 September 2013
Appointed byPratibha Patil
(President of India)
Personal details
Born (1952-08-30) 30 August 1952
Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India
Alma materUniversity of Lucknow,
University of Allahabad

Early life and education

Justice Pant was born in Pithoragarh in the state of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh state) on 30 August 1952. He got his primary and secondary education from there, then he graduated from Allahabad University with a degree of Bachelor of Science, followed by a L.L.B. from Lucknow University.[3]

Career

Justice Pant joined the Bar Council at Allahabad in 1973, and entered into Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service in the year 1976 (through Uttar Pradesh Munsif Services Examination, 1973). He held different posts in Judicial Service at Ghaziabad, Pilibhit, Ranikhet, Bareilly and Meerut in state of Uttar Pradesh. Thereafter he was promoted to Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service in 1990, and joined as Additional District Judge of the Bahraich district. He also worked as Joint Registrar in the High Court of Allahabad.[3]

Judge and chief justice

After creation of the new state of Uttarakhand, he served as the first Judicial Secretary of the state. He also held the post of District and Sessions Judge at Nainital district before being posted as Registrar General of the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. He Took oath of Office of Additional Judge, High Court of Uttarakhand with effect from 29 June 2004, where after, he was confirmed on 19 February 2008, as a permanent Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court. He assumed charge of Office of Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya at Shillong in the forenoon of 20 September 2013 and continued till 12 August 2014. On being further elevated he took oath of Office of Judge, Supreme Court of India on 13 August 2014. After serving over 3 years as a judge of the Supreme Court of India, He demitted the office at 29 August 2017.[3]

He was appointed as an honourable member of the National Human Rights Commission of India in April 2019. He joined the office on 22nd April, 2019.

Notable Judgements

Defamation and Freedom of Speech

A judgement of a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, which included Justice Pant and Justice Dipak Misra, has been criticized for upholding defamation to be a criminal offense. It has been argued that the verdict strikes a blow against freedom of speech and expression in India.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Works

Justice Pant has written many books on different subjects of law, few of which includes:

  • Prafulla Chandra Pant. Marriage, Divorce and Other Matrimonial Disputes
  • Prafulla Chandra Pant. Sundar Nirnay Kaise Likhen (in Hindi) (lit. How To Write Good Judgements)[3]
  • Prafulla Chandra Pant and T. P. Gopalakrishnan. The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. Law Book Co., 1994
  • Prafulla Chandra Pant and Somnath Aggarwal. Commentary On the Law of Maintenance. Orient Publications New Delhi, 1995

References
  1. "Justice Pant Appointed CJ of Meghalaya High Court". Outlook. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  2. "Government of Meghalaya — Chief Justice". meghalaya.gov.in. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. Sitting Hon'ble Judges
  4. "On Defamation, Macaulay Has the Last Laugh on India". The Wire. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  5. "A blow against free speech". The Hindu. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  6. "Awful reasoning and tortuous verbosity". The Hoot. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  7. "Defamation as crime". Frontline. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  8. "A blow to free speech". The Tribune. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  9. "Supreme Court's curious approach on defamation". Mint. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  10. "A disappointing verdict". The Hindu. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  11. "If truth is justice, SC needs to reconsider criminal defamation verdict". Hindustan Times. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  12. Misra, Deepak. "SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY VERSUS UNION OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF LAW & ORS" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2016.
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