Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph (born 17 June 1958) is 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 retired on 16 June 2023. He is former chief justice of the

Uttarakhand High Court The Uttarakhand High Court is the High courts of India, High Court of the States and union territories of India, state of Uttarakhand in India. The Uttarakhand High Court was established on 9 November 2000 after the separation of the state of ...

. Before his appointment as chief justice of the High Court of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

on 31 July 2014, he had served as a judge of the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...

for more than nine years.

Early life and education

Joseph was born in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on 17 June 1958 to K. K. Mathew and Ammini Tharakan. His father, K. K. Mathew, was a judge of the Supreme Court of India, and chairman of the tenth Law Commission. He completed his secondary education from

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of Government of India, central government schools in India. Governed by the Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,257 schools in India, ...

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

and

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. Later he joined

Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a government aided private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the France, French Jesuits, Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other ...

, and

Government Law College, Ernakulam The Government Law College, Ernakulam, also known as His Highness the Maharajas Government Law College, Ernakulam is a prestigious institution for undergraduate and post-graduate legal education in Kochi, Kerala, India. Founded in 1875, it is ...

for graduation and further studies.

Career

As lawyer

Joseph enrolled as an advocate on 12 January 1982 and started practising in the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...

. Later he shifted his practice to the

High Court of Kerala The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

in 1983. In 1986, he started independent practice and specialised in civil, constitutional and writ matters. He served as

amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

for a case that decided whether a Christian father under an obligation to maintain his minor child just before being elevated to the High Court Bench.

As judge

He was appointed the permanent judge of the

on 14 October 2004. On 18 July 2014, the president of India appointed Joseph as the next chief justice of Uttarakhand, on the recommendation of then CJI Rajendra Mal Lodha. On 31 July 2014, he was sworn in as the 9th chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court at

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

. A bench headed by Justice Joseph had quashed the imposition of President's Rule in 2016 by the

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

led BJP government in the state of Uttarakhand. While being a judge at the Kerala HC, a bench that included Joseph ordered the demolition of Kapico resorts constructed illegally on Nediathuruthu Island in Alappuzha district. In February 2017, Judge Jasti Chelameswar, a judge of the

Collegium A (: ) or college was any association in ancient Rome that Corporation, acted as a Legal person, legal entity. Such associations could be civil or religious. The word literally means "society", from ("colleague"). They functioned as social cl ...

, recorded a strongly worded dissent note for not elevating K. M. Joseph to the Supreme Court of India. "Justice Joseph is an outstanding judge with impeccable integrity and the most suitable judge for elevation to the Supreme Court", Chelameswar wrote. "By not elevating a highly competent judge like Justice Joseph, the collegium was setting an unhealthy precedent", he added in the note.

Controversy on elevation to Supreme Court

According to media reports, on 11 January 2018, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Collegium had recommended the name of Joseph for their appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court. While recommending Joseph's name for elevation to the Supreme Court, the five member collegium unanimously said that "The Collegium considered that at the time of recommendation, Mr. Justice K. M. Joseph, who hails from

and was functioning as Chief Justice of

, is ''more deserving and suitable in all respects than other Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of High Courts for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court of India"''. Despite the strongly worded recommendation of the collegium, there still existed some suspense on its acceptance by the NDA government. There were media reports speculating that the government had returned the files recommending to elevate Joseph to the Supreme Court. This was later dismissed by unidentified sources from the law ministry. On 26 April 2018, the government, in a letter to the then Chief Justice,

Dipak Misra Dipak Misra (born 3 October 1953) is an Indian jurist who served as the 45th Chief Justice of India from 28 August 2017 till 2 October 2018. He is also former Chief Justice of the Patna High Court and Delhi High Court. He is the nephew of Justi ...

, stated that the proposed appointment of K.M. Joseph as a judge of the Supreme Court at that stage did not appear to be appropriate. In the letter, the Minister of Law and Justice,

Ravi Shankar Prasad Ravi Shankar Prasad (born 30 August 1954) is an Indian politician and lawyer, from the Bharatiya Janata Party. A Member of Parliament since 2000, first in the Rajya Sabha (2000–2019) and then in the Lok Sabha (since 2019), Prasad has served a ...

said that ''Justice K.M. Joseph was then placed at number 42 in the All India High Court Judges’ Seniority list and that there were, at that time, 11 Chief Justices of various High Courts who were senior to him.'' If his name were returned, the collegium could reiterate his name which would make it incumbent upon the government to issue a warrant for his appointment to the Supreme Court. On the same day of the government's refusal to appoint Joseph as a judge of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court Bar Association moved a petition signed by 100 lawyers seeking a stay on the warrant appointing Indu Malhotra as a Supreme Court judge, as mentioned by senior lawyer Indira Jaising while speaking in front of the chief justice. She said that the petition was not against Smt. Indu Malhotra, but was against the government, which was not clearing the name of Joseph, for segregating the collegium's recommendation. CJI Dipak Misra sternly rebuked lawyers while the Supreme Court not only refused to stay Malhotra's appointment, but also termed the petition as ''unimaginable'', ''unthinkable'', ''inconceivable'' and ''never heard of''. The government's extraordinary step provoked outrage among opposition parties and questions from the legal fraternity, but the Chief Justice said: "If the centre has segregated the recommendation and sent one of the names for reconsideration, then they are within their rights."

= Reiteration of collegium recommendation

= On 16 July 2018, Supreme Court Collegium headed by CJI Dipak Misra reiterated the name of K. M. Joseph for elevation to the Apex Court. The resolution by the collegium read that ''after careful consideration, the collegium did not find anything adverse regarding the suitability of Joseph J. in the letters from the Law Minister''. In a separate resolution, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the names of Justice Indira Banerjee & Justice Vineet Saran, the CJs of Madras & Odisha High Courts, respectively.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, K. M. 1958 births Living people 20th-century Indian judges 20th-century Indian lawyers 21st-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian lawyers Indian Christians Judges of the Kerala High Court Justices of the Supreme Court of India Justices of the Uttarakhand High Court Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni Saint Thomas Christians Scholars from Kochi https://www.verdictum.in/court-updates/supreme-court/ihrc-hate-speech-justice-km-joseph-brahmins-periyar-pfi-1470386 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/is-state-impotent-to-take-timely-action-against-hate-speech-mongers-asks-sc/articleshow/99101001.cms https://indiankanoon.org/doc/122642/ https://archive.org/details/HindSwaraj-Nehru-SW2-40