Ranjit Singh Sarkaria (16 January 1916 – 12 October 2007) was an Indian

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 ...

justice from 17 September 1973 until 15 January 1981.

Early life

Sarkaria was born on 16 January 1916. He attended

Mohindra College Established in 1875, Government Mohindra College Patiala, Punjab, India is the oldest institution of contemporary higher learning in Northern India. Mohindra College was the first institution in Punjab to receive A++ grade from the Nationa ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

and later obtained an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

Government College Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university ...

, in what is now

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Career

Upon obtaining a law degree

Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including In ...

Sarkaria worked in

as a

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 ...

. He later took a position as an advocate of the Patiala High Court in 1940. Sarkaria was one of two people on a committee created by the state government of the former

Patiala and East Punjab States Union The Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was a States and union territories of India, state of India, uniting eight princely states between 1948 and 1956. The capital and principal city was Patiala. The state covered an area of 26,208 ...

(Pepsu) whose role was to translate the new

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

into the

Punjabi language Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native sp ...

. Sarkaria served as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

on 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 ...

from 13 June 1967 until 26 September 1967. He also served as a

puisne Puisne (; from Old French ''puisné'', modern ''puîné'', "later born, younger" (and thence, "inferior") from late Latin ''post-'', "after", and ''natus'', "born") is a legal term of art used mainly in British English meaning "inferior in rank". ...

judge from 27 September 1967 to 15 September 1973. Sarkaria was appointed to 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 ...

on 17 September 1973. He served on the court until his retirement on 15 January 1981. Following his retirement, Sarkaria was commissioned in 1983 by the government of Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

to study the relationships between the central and state governments of India. The committee became known as the

Sarkaria Commission Sarkaria Commission was set up in June 1983 by the central government of India. Its charter was to examine the relationship and balance of power between state and central governments in the country and suggest changes within the framework of Co ...

, since it was headed by RS Sarkaria. The

submitted its findings in 1988. Additionally, Sarkaria served as the former

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Press Council of India Press Council of India (PCI) is a statutory and quasi-judicial body in India, re-established in 1979 by the Press Council Act, 1978. Its objective is "preserving the freedom of the press by maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers ...

Death

He died of a prolonged illness on Friday, 12 October 2007, in

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 ...

, India at the age of 91.

References

Justices of the Supreme Court of India 20th-century Indian judges 1916 births 2007 deaths Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Recipients of the Padma Shri in civil service People from Patiala {{India-law-bio-stub