Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (born 30 October 1949) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, and the current head of the
Delimitation Commission of India
The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...
. She was previously a public prosecutor for the State of Maharashtra, and served as a judge on the Bombay High Court before her appointment from the Supreme Court. Following her retirement from the Supreme Court, Desai was the Chairperson of the Indian
Appellate Tribunal for Electricity
Appellate Tribunal for Electricity is created as a statutory and autonomous
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nom ...
.
Early life and education
Desai's father was the criminal lawyer
S. G. Samant. Desai completed her Bachelor of Arts from the Elphinstone College in 1970 and Bachelor of Laws from the Government Law College, Bombay in 1973.
Career
Legal Practice
Desai enrolled as an advocate on 30 July 1973, and began practicing law, working in the chambers of
S.C. Pratap before he was appointed as judge in the Bombay High Court, as well as with her father,
S.G. Samant, who practiced criminal law.
In 1979, Desai began working as an Assistant Government Pleader in the Bombay High Court, appearing for the Government of Maharashtra, and in 1983, was appointed as an Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor for the State of Maharashtra.
In 1986, Desai was appointed as the State of Maharashtra's Special Public Prosecutor in cases concerning
preventive detention
Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non- punitive purposes, most often to prevent (further) criminal acts.
Types of preventive detention
There is no universally agreed definition of preventive detention, and m ...
.
In 1995, she began appearing for the Government of Maharashtra as a government pleader in appeals at the Bombay High Court.
Judge, High Court of Bombay (1996-2011)
Desai was initially appointed as an additional judge at the
Bombay High Court
The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ...
on 15 April 1996 for a period of two years, and was confirmed as a permanent judge on 12 April 1998. She continued to serve as a judge on the Bombay High Court until she was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2011.
Judge, Supreme Court of India (2011-2014)
On 13 September 2011, Desai was appointed as a judge at the Supreme Court of India and served in that capacity until 2014. She was the fifth woman to be appointed as an Indian Supreme Court judge.
Chairperson, Electricity Appellate Tribunal (2014-2017)
Desai took charge as chairperson of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity on 1 December 2014 in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...
and continued to serve in that capacity until 29 October 2019.
Chairperson, Advance Ruling Authority ncome Tax(2018-2019)
Desai was appointed as Chairperson of the Advance Ruling Authority
ncome Taxin 2018 and held the position until 29 October 2019.
Lokpal Appointment Committee
On 28 September 2018, the Government of India constituted a Search committee of eight, chaired by Desai, under the
Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, commonly known as The Lokpal Act, is an anti-corruption Act of Indian Parliament in India which "seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corrup ...
, to search for and recommend a chairperson and members for India's anti-corruption ombudsman agency, the
Lokpal. The Committee provided its recommendations to the Selection Committee on 28 February 2020.
Delimitation Commission of India
The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...
Desai was appointed as the Head of the Delimitation Commission of India on 13 March 2020.
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), 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 the North India, northern part of India. It is often referred to as t ...
Uniform Civil Code Committee
Desai was appointed as the Head of the Uttarakhand UCC committee on 28 May 2022.
Jurisprudence
On 8 May 2012, the Supreme Court bench composed of Ranjana Desai and
Altamas Kabir ordered the government to end the Haj subsidy by 2022. On 27 September 2013, in a
landmark judgement, a three-judge
bench consisting of the
Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice
Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice
Ranjan Gogoi Ranjan is a name. 'Ran' means Battle and 'jan' means public, in olden days this name was given to generous kings who fight battles for the rights of people.
Ranjan may also refer to:
* Ranjan (actor) (1918–1983) (real name Ramanarayana Venkatara ...
of the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India (IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
ruled that the right to register a "none of the above" vote in elections should apply. The court said that Negative voting would lead to systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project clean candidates.
The Election Commission has said that the judgement will be implemented immediately.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Ranjana
1949 births
Living people
Judges of the Bombay High Court
Justices of the Supreme Court of India
20th-century Indian judges
20th-century women judges
21st-century Indian judges
21st-century women judges