Justice Arijit Pasayat is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. He hails from Orissa where he practised in matters relating to Taxation and Constitutional affairs before the Orissa High Court
Justice Pasayat started his career in litigation on 10-10-1968 when he was enrolled to the Bar as an Advocate. In his role as an advocate, he practised before the Orissa High Court in taxation and constitutional matters while also taking up other commercial cases. He also simultaneously pursued examination of Chartered Accountant wherein he completed the mandatory article-ship and also passed the Intermediate Chartered Accountancy Examination
He was appointed as an Additional Judge in the Orissa High Court on 20-03-1989 whereafter he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court on 20-09-1999. He was subsequently transferred and appointed as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on 10-05-2000.
Justice Pasayat was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 19-10-2001 and retired on 10-05-2009 when he attained the age of 65 years.
Among the most notable of his decisions, he was the part of a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court which decided upon the constitutional validity of the reservation to 'Other Backwards Classes' (OBCs) in national level institutions such as the IITs and the IIMs.