Justice Katju appointed Chairman Press Council

In exercise of the powers conferred by the sub-section (2) of section 5 of the Press Council Act, 1978 (37 of 1978), the Central Government today notified the nomination of Justice Markandey Katju, retired judge of the Supreme Court of India as the Chairman of the Press Council of India.

Justice Markandey Katju was born on Sept. 20, 1946. His background is noteworthy because of his family’s achievements in the fields of Law and Politics. His father late Justice S.N. Katju, was a former judge of the Allahabad High Court and his grandfather Dr. Kailash Nath Katju was one of India’s leading lawyers and participated in the country’s freedom movement. Dr. K.N. Katju was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Governor of West Bengal and Orissa, as well as the Union Law, Home and Defence Minister.

After practicising law in the Allahabad High Court, Justice Markandey Katju was appointed Judge of the Allahabad High Court in 1991, as its acting Chief Justice in Aug. 2004, as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court in Nov. 2004. He became the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in Oct. 2005. He was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India in April 2006 and he retired on Sept. 19’ 2011.

Justice Markandey Katju has written several books which include publications such as ‘Law in the Scientific Era’, ‘Interpretation of Taxing Statutes’, ‘Mimansa Rules of Interpretation’, ‘Domestic Enquiry’.

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Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju retires

Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju retired on Monday 19th September 2011 after a career that will be remembered not only for his bold judgments, which some found controversial, but also for his frank, strong views on a wide range of subjects.

“The corrupt should be hanged from the lamp post as that is the only way of getting rid of corruption in the country,” he once said, long before Anna Hazare demanded a death sentence for the corrupt. Other issues he had expressed views on included Mirza Ghalib the poet, Indo-Pak prisoners, honour killings, extra-judicial killings and corruption in the judiciary. At the farewell today, Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia said Justice Katju has lost neither the courage to speak the truth nor his concern for the common man.

When he was Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Markandey Katju, while ruling on a constitutional question of the relationship between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive, had emphasised judicial restraint and the impropriety of the judiciary trying to infiltrate into the other two domains.

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