Prafulla Chandra Pant

Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant (born 30 August 1952) is an Indian author and a sitting Judge of Supreme Court of India, in office since 13 August 2014. Prior to his appointment as Judge of Supreme Court of India, he had previously served as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court at Shillong.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Justice Pant was born in the Pithoragarh district of north Indian 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 with a degree of Bachelor of Science, followed by a LLB from Lucknow.^[3]

Career

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

Judge and chief justice

After creation of new state of Uttarakhand, he was the first Secretary, Judicial, of the state. He also held the post of District and Sessions Judge at Nainital before being posted as Registrar General of High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. 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 Judge of the said High Court. He assumed charge of Office of Chief Justice of 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. He is due to demit the office on 29 August 2017.^[3]

Notable Judgements

Defamation and Freedom of Speech

A judgement of a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, which included Pant and 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 (lit. How to write good judgments)^[3]
• Prafulla Chandra Pant and T. P. Gopalakrishnan. The Hindu adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. Law Book Co., 1994
• Prafulla Chandra Pant and Som Nath Aggarwal. Commentary on the law of maintenance. Orient Publications New Delhi, 1995

References