Surinder Singh Nijjar (7 June 1949 – 26 March 2021) was a

British-Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 2 million people in the UK, making them the single largest visible ethnic minority populatio ...

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 ...

. Post-retirement, Nijjar practised as an arbitrator. Prior to his elevation as judge, Nijjar was a Senior Advocate and practised at 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 ...

Early life and education

Nijjar was born in Bhar Singh Pura village of

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

on 7 June 1947. His family moved to

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, England in 1962 where he completed his early education. Sometime later he moved to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

to complete his

A-Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

. Nijar started his legal career at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

by obtaining his

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 ...

degree from

UCL Faculty of Laws The UCL Faculty of Laws is the law school of University College London (UCL), a member institution of the federal University of London. It is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties and is based in London, United Kingdom. With a history dating ...

, then awarded by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, in 1972.

Career

Attained a pupillage right after, he was called to the Bar by

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. Unable to secure a civil tenancy, due to the prevalent racism at the English Bar at that time, Nijjar returned to India. Enrolled as an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

in 1977 and practised constitutional, labour and commercial law at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He got designated as a Senior Advocate by the same Court in 1989. Before being elevated as judge, Nijjar also served as an Additional Advocate-General for the State of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. On 8 April 1996, Nijjar was elevated as an additional judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was transferred as an Additional Judge of the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

and assumed charge on 26 April 1996. Later became a permanent judge of the same Court on 3 April 1998. He was then transferred back to Punjab and Haryana High Court and assumed charge on 7 August 2000. Nijjar then took charge as Chief Justice of the

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located at Esplanade Row West, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. T ...

on 7 March 2007. Later elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on 17 November 2009 and retired on 6 June 2014. He was unanimously elected as 'Master of the Bench' of Middle Temple in 2011 and continued to hold this position until his demise.

Notable judgements

Several of his notable judgements included: *''BALCO, Enercon India v. Enercon Gmbh'' *''Reliance Industries Ltd & Ors. v. Union of India'' *''Swiss Timing Ltd. v. Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games, 2010''.

References

1949 births 2021 deaths Alumni of University College London Justices of the Supreme Court of India Chief justices of the Calcutta High Court 20th-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian judges {{India-law-bio-stub Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws