Kailas Nath Wanchoo (25 February 1903 – 14 August 1988) was the tenth

Chief Justice of India The chief justice of India (CJI) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the President of India to appoint, as recommended by the outg ...

. He was born in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

into a

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the In ...

family and was educated on primary at Nowgong, Madhya Pradesh and middle at Pandit Pirthi Nath High School,

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

, Muir Central College, Allahabad and

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

as Joint Magistrate on 1 December 1926 in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Career

In April 1967, he was sworn in as a

following the retirement of Koka Subba Rao from the position on announcing his presidential campaign. Over the course of his Supreme Court tenure, Wanchoo authored 355 judgments and sat on 1,286 benches. By being

, he administered oath of office to 3rd President of India

Zakir Husain Zakir Husain Khan (8 February 1897 – 3 May 1969) was an Indian educationist and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1962 to 1967 and president of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. Born in H ...

Official positions

*Allahabad High Court Judge, Feb. 1947-Jan. 1951 *Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice 1951-58(Longest time period as chief justice in Rajasthan HC) *

Judicial Reforms Committee Chairman, 1950–51 *Indore Firing Inquiry Commission Sole Member, 1954 *Dholpur Succession Case Commission Chairman, 1955 *

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

Member, 1955. *

on 12 April 1967. Retired 24 February 1968.

References

University of Allahabad alumni Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Chief justices of India Indian civil servants Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Scholars from Allahabad Kashmiri people Kashmiri Pandits Judges of the Allahabad High Court Chief justices of the Rajasthan High Court 1903 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian judges {{India-law-bio-stub