S. J. Mukhopadhaya

S. J. Mukhopadhaya
Judge of the Supreme Court of India
In office 13 September 2011 – 14 March 2015
Personal details
Born	(1950-03-15) 15 March 1950 (age 74)
Alma mater	Magadh University Patna University

Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya (15 March 1950) is a former justice of the Supreme Court of India.^[1] He was also chair of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal from 1 June 2016 to 14 March 2020. He previously served as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and also served as acting Chief Justice at the Jharkhand High Court^[2] and the Madras High Court.^[3]

Notable judgements

Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation

Main article: Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation

A Supreme Court bench of justice G. S. Singhvi and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya has upheld the Section 377 of India's penal code bans "sex against the order of nature", which is widely interpreted to mean homosexual sex. The judges stated that "a minuscule fraction of the country's population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders" and that the High Court had erroneously relied upon international precedents "in its anxiety to protect the so-called rights of LGBT persons". The United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay voiced her disappointment at the re-criminalization of consensual same-sex relationships in India, calling it "a significant step backwards" for the country and Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon stressed the need for equality and opposed any discrimination against lesbians, gays and bisexuals. The decision is widely believed to be one of the lowest points of Indian Supreme Court jurisprudence.^{[citation needed]}

In the Puttaswamy v. Union Of India case, the 9-judge bench commented on the verdict that the size of the population should have no barring on the protection of fundamental rights. The bench commented that the "so-called rights" implies an illusion, but the claims were grounded in the constitution.^[4] Subsequently, the judgement was overturned by a 5-judge constitutional bench on 6 September 2018 in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India.^[5]

In Lily Thomas v. Union of India a two-judge bench of Justice A. K. Patnaik and Justice Mukhopadhaya on 10 July 2013^[6] ruled that any Member of Parliament (MP), Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) or Member of a Legislative Council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years' imprisonment, loses membership of the House with immediate effect. This is in contrast to the earlier position, wherein convicted members held on to their seats until they exhausted all judicial remedy in lower court, High Court and the Supreme Court of India. Further, Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed elected representatives three months to appeal their conviction,^[7] was declared unconstitutional.^[8]

References

1. "Former judges: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya". Supreme Court of India. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
2. "S.J. Mukhopadhaya sworn in judge". The Hindu. 1 September 2006. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
3. "Justice Mukhopadhaya appointed Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court". The Hindu. 7 December 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
4. "Right to Privacy Judgement" (PDF). Supreme Court of India. 24 August 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2017.
5. "LGBT community expresses shock as Supreme Court rules gay sex illegal, calls it a 'black day'". India Today. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
6. "Lily Thomas vs Union of India & Ors. on 10 July, 2013". indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
7. "Section 8 in The Representation of the People Act, 1951". indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
8. Venkatesan, J. (10 July 2013). "MPs, MLAs to be disqualified on date of criminal conviction". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 October 2013.