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Justice Aravind Kumar Know Thy Judge | Supreme Court of India: Justice Aravind
Kumar Prior to his elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Aravind Kumar, as Chief
Justice of Gujarat High Court, took steps to tackle pendency of cases and initiated
the conversion of roadways buses into schools for poor children. Click to share on
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WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Published on July 14, 2023By Sucheta
Advertisement Justice Aravind Kumar was born on 14-07-1962 in Karnataka1.
Justice Kumar did his schooling at Bengaluru (then Bangalore) and his college from
National College. Justice Aravind Kumar obtained his Law degree from Bangalore
University2. Did you Know? During his student days, Justice Aravind Kumar was
active as Students Union Leader and was the Vice President of Bangalore University
Students Action Committee3. Advocacy Justice Aravind Kumar enrolled in 1987 as
an Advocate. He appeared in Civil Courts, Magistrate Courts, and Appellate
Tribunals for about 4 years before shifting practice to the High Courts. He was later
appointed as Additional Central Government Standing Counsel at High Court of
Karnataka in 1999 and as Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department for 11
years4. Justice Kumar was also appointed as Member of Regional Direct Taxes
Advisory Committee in the year 2002. Justice Aravind Kumar was also appointed as
the Assistant Solicitor General of India in the year 2005.5 Justice Aravind Kumar was
one of the founder member and Vice-President of Lahari Advocates Forum, an
organization promoted by distinguished Senior Advocates for promoting Legal
Education, training young advocates, conducting workshops on various subjects for
Advocates, conducting orientation courses to young Advocates seeking
appointment as judicial officers. Justice Aravind Kumar acted as a legal advisor to
various statutory corporations and companies and had also been appointed as
Special Public Prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation till his elevation as
Judge of Karnataka High Court.6 Judgeship of the High Courts Justice Aravind Kumar
was elevated as Additional Judge of Karnataka High Court on 26-06-2009 and later
as Permanent Judge on 07-12-20127. After serving Karnataka High Court as a Judge
for 9 years, Justice Aravind Kumar was appointed as Chief Justice of Gujarat High
Court on 13-10-20218. Notable Initiatives taken by Justice Aravind Kumar during his
time in the High Courts During his judgeship in Karnataka High Court, Justice
Aravind Kumar along with the then Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Abhay S.
Oka took significant steps to tackle Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 . Chief Justice Oka
and Justice Kumar issued several directions to ensure that labs provide COVID
results within 24 hours; and that those who have died due to Covid-19 are given
dignified burial/ cremation. The Judges also issued directions to address Covid
vaccine scarcity and issues related to food security. Furthermore, Chief Justice
Abhay S. Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar directed the State Government to ensure
availability of oxygen cylinders and medicines effective in treatment of
mucormycosis. During his 1.4-year tenure as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court,
Justice Aravind Kumar initiated the creation of ‘Signal Schools’. These schools were
launched jointly by the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority (GSLSA) and
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to provide basic educational facilities to children
engaged in begging jobs, with buses converted into classrooms and stationed near
traffic signals9. As Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, Justice Aravind Kumar was
committed to tackle the issue of pending cases; therefore, he set up “justice clocks”
in each courtroom to track case pendency and displayed them on the Gujarat High
Court’s website. During his tenure, the quarterly rate of clearance of cases
remained above 85%.10 As Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and patron-in-chief
of GSLSA, Justice Aravind Kumar also conducted Lok Adalats to resolve cases
pertaining to traffic challans, electricity and water bills, labour disputes and service
matters related to pay, allowances and retiral benefits. As Chief Justice of Gujarat
High Court, Justice Aravind Kumar also initiated the live streaming of District Courts
on pilot basis11. Elevation to the Supreme Court Taking into account Justice Aravind
Kumar’s seniority, merit, performance and integrity; the Supreme Court Collegium
recommended his elevation as Judge of Supreme Court of India. The
recommendation was accepted by the Law Ministry and Justice Aravind Kumar’s
elevation was confirmed via notification dated 10-02-2023 and finally on 13-02-
2023, Justice Aravind Kumar took oath of office as Judge of the Supreme Court of
India. He is due to retire on 13-07-2027.12 Notable Supreme Court Judgments
Adherence to Article 14 by State must even while acting in Contractual Realm:
Supreme Court In Madras Aluminium Co. Ltd. v. T.N. Electricity Board, 2023 SCC
OnLine SC 7839, the three Judge Bench of B.R. Gavai, Sanjay Karol* and Aravind
Kumar, JJ., said that the State must abide by Article 14 of the Constitution of India
even if its action was in the contractual realm. Read more “Voting by secret ballot
should not be the rule but clearly an exception”; Supreme Court modifies guidelines
for designation of Senior Advocates In the case titled Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court
of India, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 614, filed by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising against the
existing system of designation of Senior Advocates, terming it flawed as it was not
objective, fair, and transparent, and thus did not take into account considerations
of merit and ability, the 3-Judge Bench of Sanjay Kishan Kaul*, Ahsanuddin
Amanullah, and Aravind Kumar, JJ. has fine-tuned the guidelines laid down in
Supreme Court’s 2017 Judgment13, to bring in greater transparency and objectivity
in the designation process. Read more Courts cannot prescribe qualification or
declare equivalency of a course, unless the rule itself prescribes equivalency In
Unnikrishnan CV v. Union of India, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 343, wherein the appellants
were claiming promotion to the post of Superintendent BR Grade-I and Assistant
Engineer as per Column 11 of the General Reserve Engineer Force Group ‘C’ and
Group ‘D’ Recruitment Rules, 1982 (‘GREF Rules, 1982), the Full Bench of Sanjay
Kishan Kaul, Manoj Misra and Aravind Kumar*, JJ. while rejecting the appeal,
reiterated that Courts cannot prescribe the qualification and/or declare the
equivalency of a course, until and unless the rule itself prescribes the equivalency.
Read more Notable High Court Judgments Gujarat High Court | Delay in
appointment of presiding officer of DRT leading to deprivation of legitimate right to
speedy justice The Division Bench of Aravind Kumar, CJ. and Ashutosh J. Shastri, J.,
in Nipun Praveen Singhvi v. Union of India, 2022 SCC OnLine Guj 828, allowed a writ
petition which was filed seeking for a direction to fill up the post of Presiding Officer
in Debt Recovery Tribunal-I, Ahmedabad contending inter-alia such vacancy violates
the legal rights of the petitioner, bankers/lenders, borrowers, guarantors and other
stake holders. Read More Gujarat High Court | Show cause notice issued to 9
Judicial officers for disobeying the order of the High Court and not disposing of the
case pending since 1977 While deciding the application, the division bench of
Aravind Kumar, CJ., and Ashutosh J. Shastri, J., in Patel Ambalal Kalidas v. Patel
Motibhai Kalidas11, called upon the Judicial Officers to show cause as to why
contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for wilfully disobeying
the order and direction issued by this Court. Read More Gujarat High Court | Notice
for appointment of arbitrator cannot be rejected on ground of vague material
particulars While deciding the instant petition, Aravind Kumar, C.J., in Hemlata Jain
v. Padmavati Analkumar Mishra, 2022 SCC OnLine Guj 1787, said that the prayer for
appointment of an arbitrator under Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation
Act, 2016 cannot be rejected on the ground that it is vague or bereft of the material
particulars as Section 21 of the A&C Act does not remotely suggests that the nature
of dispute has to be enumerated or explained in the notice invoking the arbitration
clause. Read More Karnataka HC | No bar for claiming maintenance under S. 24
Hindu Marriage Act, even in the event of application under S. 125 CrPC having been
filed While passing the order in a writ petition filed under Articles 226 and 227 of
the Constitution, a Single Judge Bench comprising of Aravind Kumar, J., in Sunita
Motwani v. Amitabh Sinha12, held that the contention of the respondent that the
present application for maintenance was not maintainable on account of the
petitioner having already filed an application under S. 125 CrPC could not be
accepted. Read More Karnataka HC│ Yipee Magic Masala Noodles and Wai Wai
Majedaar Masala Noodles copyright infringement battle A Division Bench of Aravind
Kumar and Pradeep Kumar Yerur, JJ., in ITC Ltd. v. CG Foods (India) (P) Ltd., 2021 SCC
OnLine Kar 14700, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the order dated 22-06-2021
passed in O.S.No.177/2021 by LXXXIV Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge (CCH-
85) (Commercial Court), Bengaluru. The Court observed that while deciding the
question of copyright infringement it is not necessary that the defendants work
must be an exact reproduction of the plaintiff’s work. What is essential is to see
whether there is a reproduction of the substantial part of the plaintiff’s work. Read
More Karnataka HC | Persons with disabilities are entitled to priority in medical
treatment in light of S. 25 of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 A Division
Bench of Abhay S Oka, CJ and Aravind Kumar, J., in Mohd. Arif Jameel v. Union of
India, 2021 SCC OnLine Kar 15714, gave a slew of directions regarding vaccine
allocation. The Court took stock of the various aspect related to COVID vaccination
in the State. Read More 1. Aravind Kumar – Supreme Court Observer (scobserver.in)
2. Chief Justice & Judges | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (sci.gov.in) 3. Chief Justice &
Judges | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (sci.gov.in) 4. High Court of Gujarat
(gujarathighcourt.nic.in); Chief Justice & Judges | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(sci.gov.in) 5. Chief Justice & Judges | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (sci.gov.in) 6. Chief
Justice & Judges | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (sci.gov.in) 7. Hon’ble Mr. Justice
Aravind Kumar (kar.nic.in) 8. High Court of Gujarat (gujarathighcourt.nic.in) 9. Signal
school idea came from experience in Karnataka: Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court
| Gandhinagar News, The Indian Express 10. Aravind Kumar – Supreme Court
Observer (scobserver.in) 11. Centre confirms Gujarat Chief Justice Aravind Kumar’s
elevation to Supreme Court | Ahmedabad News, The Indian Express 12. Chief
Justice & Judges | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (sci.gov.in) 13. Indira Jaising v.
Supreme Court of India, (2017) 9 SCC 766 Tags : Gujarat High Court Karnataka High
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