Kurian Joseph (born 30 November 1953) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. Previously, he has served as chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and judge of the Kerala High Court.

Kurian Joseph
Judge of the Supreme Court of India
In office
8 March 2013 – 29 November 2018
Nominated byAltamas Kabir
Appointed byPranab Mukherjee
Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court
In office
8 February 2010 – 7 March 2013
Nominated byK. G. Balakrishnan
Appointed byPratibha Patil
Judge of the Kerala High Court
In office
12 July 2000 – 7 February 2010
Nominated byAdarsh Sein Anand
Appointed byK. R. Narayanan
Personal details
Born (1953-11-30) 30 November 1953 (age 70)
Alma materMahatma Gandhi University
University of Kerala

Early life

edit

Kurian Joseph was born on 30 November 1953 in Manjapra a village near Angamaly. He was educated at St. Joseph's U.P. School, Chengal, Kalady, St. Sebastian's High School, Kanjoor. For higher education, he attended Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara and Sree Sankara College, both affiliated colleges of Mahatma Gandhi University, and Kerala Law Academy, University of Kerala in Trivandrum.[1]

Career

edit

Joseph began his legal career in 1979.[citation needed] He was member of the Academic Council, Kerala University from 1977 to 1978, General Secretary of Kerala University Union in 1978, Senate member of Cochin University from 1983 to 1985, member of the Board of Studies, Indian Legal Thought of Mahatma Gandhi University in 1996, president of Kerala Judicial Academy from 2006 to 2008, chairman of Kerala High Court Legal Services committee from 2006 to 2009 and chairman of Lakshadweep Legal Services Authority in 2008.[citation needed] He served as government pleader in 1987 and as additional advocate general from 1994 to 1996. He was designated as senior advocate in 1996.[1][2] Joseph has also been chairman of the Indian Law Institute Kerala Branch, Chairman of Indian Law Reports (Kerala Series) and executive member of the National University of Advanced Legal Studies.[1][2]

In 2000, Kurian Joseph was appointed a judge of the Kerala High Court. In February 2010, he was elevated as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. On 8 March 2013, he became a judge of the Supreme Court of India.[3][4]

Joseph believes that people have high expectations of the judiciary and that it should play a pro-active role to meet their aspirations.[3]

Notable cases

edit

The bench of Justice R. M. Lodha, Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Joseph heard the controversial coal allocation scam case and vowed to free the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from any political and bureaucratic interference.[5] A bench of Chief Justice Lodha, Kurian Joseph[6] and R. F. Nariman overruled the Afsal Guru decision on the point of admissibility of electronic evidence.[7][when?]

On 22 August 2017, Joseph gave a verdict against the controversial Triple Talaq. In his judgement he said, "I find it extremely difficult to agree with the learned Chief Justice that the practice of triple talaq has to be considered integral to the religious denomination in question and that the same is part of their personal law...."[8]

Post retirement

edit

Joseph has been appointed the arbitrator on behalf of the government of Kerala in the dispute with Adani Group over the completion of Vizhinjam Port in Kerala.[9]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ a b "Justice Kurian Joseph". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b "New Supreme Court judge to be sworn in on March 8". The Hindu. 8 March 2013 – via www.thehindu.com.
  4. ^ "SC to get two more judges CJ of Andhra Pradesh & Himachal Pradesh". 23 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Coalgate probe: SC livid, vows to rid CBI of all interference | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 8 May 2013.
  6. ^ Manorama News (December 2018), ശബരിമല വിധി ബെഞ്ചിൽ നിന്ന് കുര്യൻ ജോസഫ് ഒഴിവാക്കപ്പെട്ടോ? | Justice Kurian Joseph | Nere chovve, retrieved 19 December 2018
  7. ^ Rajagopal, Krishnadas (22 September 2014). "e-evidence needs authentication: SC". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
  8. ^ "This Is What Supreme Court Said In Triple Talaq Judgment [Read Judgment]". www.livelaw.in. 22 August 2017.
  9. ^ Feb 22, KP Saikiran / TNN /. "Vizhinjam port: Govt appoints Kurian Joseph as arbitrator | Kochi News - Times of India". The Times of India.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)