K. K. Mathew

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K.K. Mathew (3 January 1911 - 2 May 1992) was a Judge of the Supreme Court of India highly regarded for his scholarship and for his seminal contribution to the Constitutional and Administrative law in India. He later served the nation as its Tenth Law Commission Chairman and also as the Chairman of the Second Press Commission.

K.K. Mathew was born into a pious Roman Catholic Syrian Christian family at Athirampuzha, a modest town in the Kottayam district of Kerala. He did his primary schooling at St. Ephraim’s High School, Mannanam and pre-university education at the Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram.

As an earnest student, he had at a very early age spent long time applying himself in a broad variety of subjects ranging from literature and history through philosophy, which stood him in good stead during his later years. He secured the coveted Harvey Memorial Prize in essay competition and also the Victoria Jubilee Scholarship.

After passing out with a Law degree from Trivandrum Law College, Mr. Mathew was called to the bar in 1935 and began his practice of law under the late Shri. A. J. John, Anaparambil. His initial years of apprenticeship and the growing practice in the bars of Kottayam and Trivandrum, both in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore, was a preparation for a distinguished and lucrative practice that awaited him in the newly formed Kerala High Court where he shifted over to in 1956 after the formation of the State of Kerala in the same year. From then on it was meteoric rise fueled by hard work and years of dedicated scholarship.

The year 1960 witnessed K.K. Mathew being appointed as the Advocate-General of Kerala and shortly thereon in 1962 as a Judge of the Kerala High Court. In October 4, 1971 he was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India, the position, which he held until his retirement in January 2, 1976.

K.K. Mathew has left a rich legacy of judgments bearing high precedential value. The notable ones are Bennett Coleman, Sukhdev Singh, Ambica Mills, St. Xavier, Prabhu Dayal, Khan Chand, Gobind, K.P. Joseph, Gwalior Rayon, Kodar, N.M. Thomas, Kesavananda Bharati, and finally the Indira Gandhi Election case.

The state utilized the long experience and scholarship of K.K. Mathew by appointing him first as the Law Commission Chairman, the post which he adorned from 1981-1985. Then came the appointments as the Chairman of the L.N. Mishra’s Enquiry Commission, the Boundary Commission to inquire into the boundary dispute between Haryana and Punjab, and finally as the Chairman of the Press Commission of India.

The book Democracy, Equality and Freedom which is a compilation of his lectures and addresses stands testimony to his wide and deep learning.

After a long and dedicated life in the service of the Indian judiciary K.K. Mathew died in May 2, 1992. As a brilliant jurist and as a dedicated judicial scholar, K.K. Mathew had left his indelible signature upon the annals of Indian judiciary.

Mr. Mathew married Ammini Tharakan. The couple had three children K.M. Kurian who is the manager of Air India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Mrs. Shantha Kakkappan an housewife, and Justice K.M. Joseph a sitting Judge of the Kerala High Court.