Arjan Kumar Sikri (born 7 March 1954) is an eminent jurist and a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on 12 April 2013. Earlier, he had served as the Chief Justice of 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 ...

. He retired as senior most puisne judge of Supreme Court of India on 6 March 2019. Presently, he is an International Judge, at the

Singapore International Commercial Court The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) was established on 5 January 2015. The idea to create the SICC was mooted by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the Opening of Legal Year 2013, with a key feature being the internationalisation of ...

, ICC Singapore Supreme Court, he was sworn in to the post on 2 August 2019, by the

President of Singapore The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the reserves and the integrity of the public service. The presidency is largely ceremonial, with the Cabinet led by the prime ...

. He is also the Chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority

Early life and education

He completed his B.Com. (Hons.) from

Shri Ram College of Commerce Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. Founded in 1926 by industrialist Lala Shri Ram, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious college for commerce and economics in India. SRCC was ranke ...

, Delhi in 1974. He completed his LL.B. from

Faculty of Law, University of Delhi The Faculty of Law, University of Delhi is the law department of the University of Delhi. It has the unique distinction of producing the largest number of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India. It is situated in the north campus of the ...

in 1977 and won the gold medal. He also completed his LLM from the

Career

As a lawyer

Sikri was enrolled as an advocate in 1977 and he started practising in Delhi. He had specialization in Constitutional cases, Labour - Service Matters and Arbitration matters. He was counsel for numerous Public Sector Undertakings, Educational Institutions, Banks & Financial Institutions and various Private Sector Corporations. He was also a part-time lecturer in Campus Law Centre, Delhi University during 1984-89. He was vice-President, Delhi High Court Bar Association during 1994-95. He was designated as a

Senior Advocate The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel ( post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdic ...

by Delhi High Court in 1997.

As a judge

Sikri was appointed Judge of the High Court of Delhi in July, 1999 and has also served as the Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court from 10 October 2011 before being elevated as the Chief Justice of

in September 2012. in 2013 he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.

Other positions

* Member, General Body and Academic Council of

National Judicial Academy (India) National Judicial Academy is an Indian government-funded training institute primarily for High Court Judges & Judicial Officers, working on deputation in the Supreme Court and the High Courts. It also provides training to the other Judicial O ...

* Patron-in-Chief, Delhi Judicial Academy. * Member of the committee on Restatement of Law by the Chief Justice of India. * Patron-in-Chief and Executive Chairman, Delhi Legal Services Authority. * Secretary, International Law Association (Indian Branch) * Member, Governing Council of the

Indian Law Institute The Indian Law Institute (ILI) is a Deemed University and socio-legal research institute, founded in 1956. Established in New Delhi, primarily with the objective of promoting and conducting legal research, education and training. The objectiv ...

* Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi (past).

Notable Judgments

* In 2013, a Punjab and Haryana High Court Bench consisting of chief justice A. K. Sikri and justice Jain had upheld the appointment of Punjab director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini who was chargesheeted in a criminal case by a CBI court in Delhi holding that he was "legally competent" to hold his present position. * A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Chief Justice Sikri had issued notice to

Ministry of External Affairs of India The Ministry of External Affairs (abbreviated as MEA; hi, विदेश मंत्रालय, Videśa Mantrālaya, translit-std=ISO) of India is the government agency responsible for implementing Indian foreign policy. The Ministry of Ext ...

taking cognizance of a

Public Interest Litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...

application seeking release of two prisoners from Punjab, languishing in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

jails even after completion of their sentence. * A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Chief Justice Sikri had issued directions to the states of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh administration on what remedial measures to take to curb the menace of crime against women. Earlier he had also noted that Judges have to be sensitized about securing speedy justice in cases related to crime against women, elders, children and discrimination against HIV-infected persons. * In 2011, as acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, he treated a letter addressed to him by a lawyer as suo moto Public Interest Litigation rit Petition (Civil) 8889 of 2011 Letter highlighted the illegal practice of falsification of age of children resulting in their treatment as adult criminals and subsequent incarceration as adults in jails. He issued comprehensive guidelines for various agencies aimed at elimination of incarceration of children as adults in jail. It was in this judgment that he introduced "Age Memo" as a legal tool to document and record age investigation by police.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikri, Arjan Kumar 1954 births Living people Justices of the Supreme Court of India Judges of the Delhi High Court Faculty of Law, University of Delhi alumni Senior Advocates in India Place of birth missing (living people) Chief Justices of the Punjab and Haryana High Court 20th-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian judges