Arjan Kumar Sikri (born 7 March 1954) is an eminent

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jurist and a former judge of the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

. He was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on 12 April 2013. Earlier, he had served as the chief justice of the

Punjab and Haryana High Court Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of Judges of this High Court is 85 consisting of 64 Pe ...

. He retired as the senior most puisne judge of Supreme Court of India on 6 March 2019. Since 2019, he is an international judge, at the

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, Singapore Supreme Court. He was sworn in to the post on 2 August 2019, by the

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. He is also the Chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority. He also acts as an arbitrator in domestic and international disputes.

Early life and education

He completed his B.Com. (Hons.) from

Shri Ram College of Commerce Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) is an Indian higher education institution in the fields of commerce, economics and business management. A constituent college of the University of Delhi, it was founded in 1926 by seven leading businessmen na ...

, Delhi in 1974. He completed his LL.B. from

Faculty of Law, University of Delhi Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

in 1977 and won the gold medal. He also completed his LLM from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.

Career

As a lawyer

Sikri was enrolled as an advocate in 1977 and started practising in Delhi. He had specialization in constitutional, labour, arbitration and service matters. He was counsel for numerous

public sector undertakings Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) in India are government-owned entities in which at least 51% of stake is under the ownership of the Government of India or state governments. These types of firms can also be a joint venture of multiple PSUs. ...

, educational institutions, banks and financial institutions and various private sector corporations. He was also a part-time lecturer in Campus Law Centre, Delhi University from 1984 to 1989. He was vice-President, Delhi High Court Bar Association from 1994 to 1995. He was designated as a senior advocate by the Delhi High Court in 1997.

As a judge

Sikri was appointed a judge of the Delhi High Court in July 1999 and also served as the acting chief justice of that high court from 10 October 2011 before being elevated as the chief justice of the

in September 2012. In 2013 he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.

Other positions

* Member, General Body and Academic Council of

National Judicial Academy (India) National Judicial Academy for Judicial education and training was a significant initiative of the Supreme Court of India conceived in early 1990s. The National Judicial Academy was formally dedicated to the Nation on 5 September 1992. The Acad ...

* Patron-in-Chief, Delhi Judicial Academy. * Member of the committee on Restatement of Law by the Chief Justice of India. * Patron-in-Chief and Executive Chairman, Delhi Legal Services Authority. * Secretary, International Law Association (Indian Branch) * Member, Governing Council of the

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* Chancellor of the

National Law University, Delhi National Law University, Delhi (NLUD) is a law school in India, situated in Sector-14, Dwarka, Delhi. It offers courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As one of the national law schools in India, NLU Delhi (NLUD) is built on ...

(past). * Sports Ombudsman, Indian Federation Of Sports Gaming’

Notable judgments

* In 2013, a Punjab and Haryana High Court Bench consisting of Chief Justice A. K. Sikri and Justice Jain had upheld the appointment of Punjab director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini who was chargesheeted in a criminal case by a CBI court in Delhi holding that he was "legally competent" to hold his present position. * A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Chief Justice Sikri had issued notice to

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taking cognizance of a

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application seeking release of two prisoners from Punjab, languishing in

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jails even after completion of their sentence. * A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Chief Justice Sikri had issued directions to the states of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh administration on what remedial measures to take to curb the menace of crime against women. Earlier he had also noted that Judges have to be sensitized about securing speedy justice in cases related to crime against women, elders, children and discrimination against HIV-infected persons. * In 2011, as acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, he treated a letter addressed to him by a lawyer as suo moto Public Interest Litigation rit Petition (Civil) 8889 of 2011 Letter highlighted the illegal practice of falsification of age of children resulting in their treatment as adult criminals and subsequent incarceration as adults in jails. He issued comprehensive guidelines for various agencies aimed at elimination of incarceration of children as adults in jail. It was in this judgment that he introduced "Age Memo" as a legal tool to document and record age investigation by police.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikri, Arjan Kumar 1954 births Living people 20th-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian judges Place of birth missing (living people) Chief justices of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Faculty of Law, University of Delhi alumni Judges of the Delhi High Court Justices of the Supreme Court of India Senior advocates in India Shri Ram College of Commerce alumni