Ananga Kumar Patnaik is an Indian jurist, currently serving on the Supreme Court of India;[1]
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Patnaik was born on 3 June 1949. He is the son of Gopal Chandra Patnaik, an Indian businessman.and Shantilata Patnaik. He did his schooling from Rajkumar College, Raipur and graduated from University of Delhi with honours in political science. He then pursued his Bachelor of Laws degree from Madhusudan Law College in Cuttack.
He enrolled with the State Bar Council of Orissa in the year 1974. As an advocate, he practiced in the High Court of Orissa and Subordinate Courts & Tribunals in the State. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of India on many matters of the law. He has specialized in Commercial Law and Constitutional Law. He was the Standing Counsel for Orissa State Road Transportation Corporation from 1989 to 1990. He was then the Standing Counsel for Commercial Tax Department of the Government of Orissa between 1990 and 1994. He is known for his sound understanding of constitutional law.[1]
He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Orissa on 13 January 1994. Subsequently on 7 February 1994, he was transferred to the Gauhati High Court as an Additional Judge. He was made a permanent judge (puisne judge) of the Gauhati High Court in 1995. In 2002 he was transferred to the High Court of Orissa, where he subsequently became the senior most puisne judge of Orissa's High Court. In that capacity he served as the Executive Chairman of the Orissa State Legal Services Authority, which provides legal aid to petitioners in the State of Orissa.
He became Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on 14 March 2005.[1] Later that year he became Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, serving there for four years. During his tenure as the Chief Justice of both these states he was known for his bold judgements and was seen to be as judge who was pro poor and strongly supported the underprivileged classes.[2]
On 17 November 2009, he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.[1]