Ram Prakash Sethi (7 July 1937 – 17 January 2007) was an Indian judge who served as a 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 began practicing law in 1961. Sethi was enrolled as

Pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

in 1961, as Vakil in 1962, and as advocate in 1967. He practiced law for 25 years. Before elevation to the Jammu & Kashmir High Court on 30 May 1986, was Special Public Prosecutor for cases under Jammu & Kashmir Enemy Agents Ordinance, appointed Additional Advocate General of Jammu & Kashmir State in 1975 but resigned after nine months. Was the Standing Counsel of various prestigious organizations and institutions such as the

University of Jammu The University of Jammu informally known as Jammu University (JU), accredited as A++ grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), was established in 1969 by an act of the state legislature which effectively split the Jammu and ...

, Jammu & Kashmir Financial Corporation, represented State of Jammu & Kashmir in the Supreme Court in the review matter of Keshwanand Bharti's case. He died on 17 January 2007 at

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Early life

Sethi was born in Mirpur,

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

(present-day Pakistan).

Education

Sethi graduated from

University of Kashmir University of Kashmir (UoK), informally known as Kashmir University (KU), is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public State university (India), state university located in the Hazratbal neighbourhood, on the western side of ...

in 1959 and LL.B. from

Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University The Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University is the law school of the Aligarh Muslim University which has a history of over 100 years of teaching and writing law. Law classes were inaugurated by Justice Douglas Straight on December 29, 1891. In ...

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

in 1961. He was President of the Students Union of the College. Actively participated in the students movement having remained as Secretary General of Jammu and Kashmir Students Federation of India. He was also Secretary of the Debating Society of the College, participated in various debates at the State and national level and won prizes. He also edited the college magazine.

Career

Sethi authored commentaries on the

Hindu Marriage Act The Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) is an act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1955. Three other important acts were also enacted as part of the Hindu Code Bills during this time: the Hindu Succession Act (1956), the Hindu Minority and Guardia ...

and was an editor of Urdu weekly Shagaf besides being the Regional Editor of more than twelve law magazines published from various parts of the country. He was appointed additional judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on 30 May 1986 and a permanent Judge on 5 August 1987. He transferred to Punjab & Haryana High Court on 18 October 1993 and was appointed Chief Justice Karnataka High Court on 29 June 1996. Later, he was appointed as a Judge of Supreme Court of India on 8 January 1999. Sethi retired on 7 July 2002. Post-retirement, he was appointed to the Jammu & Kashmir accountability panel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sethi, Ram Prakash 1937 births 2007 deaths Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of India 20th-century Indian judges University of Kashmir alumni