John Michael D'Cunha is an Indian Judge elevated as a Permanent Judge in the Karnataka High Court on 1 November 2018. D'Cunha was appointed an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court on 14 November 2016. On 27 September 2014 he convicted

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

, then Chief Minister of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, in her 18-year-old Disproportionate Asset case. He was appointed by the Supreme Court of India to the post in October 2013 as the fifth judge to investigate the case, replacing judge MS Balakrishna.

Early life

D'Cunha was born in Gurpur,

Kaikamba Kaikamba also known as Gurupura Kaikamba is a suburban town of Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka State, west coast of India. Kaikamba lies between Moodabidri and Mangalore city in Dakshina Kannada district. This town lies on Ma ...

, from

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

. He studied at SDM Law College in Mangalore, where he also played volleyball. D'Cunha started his law practice in 1985, and formed Manu Associates with fellow advocates Amruth Kini, M P Noronha and Ullal S K. The name "Manu" was formed from the first letter of each partner's name: ‘M’ for Michael, ‘A’ from Amruth, ‘N’ from Noronha and ‘U’ from Ullal. In 1999, he left Mangalore to join the

Karnataka High Court Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Judiciary

In 2002 D'Cunha joined the judiciary as a District Judge. He has served in the courts of

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Bellary Bellary, officially Ballari, in the eponymous Bellary district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. History Bellary was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November 1956. The Ball ...

, and

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

. He also served as secretary to the Chief Justice and Registrar (Vigilance) of the High Court. In June 2015, D'Cunha was appointed the registrar general of the

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

High Court. On 11th Nov 2016, D'Cunha was appointed a judge in the

High Court. He retired from the Karnataka High Court on 6 April 2021 upon superannuation.

Operation Kamala case

On 31 March 2021, the bench of Justice D'Cunha refused to quash the FIR against the sitting Chief Minister of Karnataka

B. S. Yediyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician currently serving as the member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, t ...

in a case nicknamed

Operation Kamala Operation Kamala, Operation Lotus or sometimes Operation Black Lotus is a term coined in 2008, when India's former minister G. Janardhana Reddy in the State of Karnataka, used all possible tricks (persuade, bribe, punishment, divide) to secure ...

case. At the time of the alleged incident, Yediyurappa was the leader of opposition.

Disproportionate Asset case against Jayalalithaa

D'Cunha was appointed by the Supreme Court of India in October 2013 as the fifth judge to investigate the Disproportionate Asset case against Jayalalithaa, replacing judge MS Balakrishna. On 27 September 2014 D'Cunha convicted

, the then Chief Minister of

. In a detailed judgement, he showed that the entire asset belonged to the accused and no one else. She was sentenced to a prison term of four years and fined Rs. 100

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

. Jayalalithaa was later acquitted by the High Court of Karnataka on 11 May 2015. It claimed Trial court order by D'Cunha is not sustainable in law. The Supreme Court of India reconfirmed the D'Cunha punishment on 14 February 2017.

Flag hoisting at Idgah Maidan case against Uma Bharti

In the 1994 flag hoisting at Idgah Maidan case, pertaining to an open public ground located in the heart of Hubli, whose ownership was claimed by Anjuman-e-Islam, a minority educational institution, the Judicial Magistrate First Class of the 2nd Court,

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...

had from 2002 to 2004 issued 18 non-bailable arrest warrants against

Uma Bharti Uma Bharti (born 3 May 1959) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. She became involved with the Bharatiya Janata Party at a young age, unsuccessfully contesting her first parliamentary elections in 1984. In 1989, s ...

then the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, which Bharti had evaded. The Magistrate's court served a final arrest warrant on 3 August 2004. Then Bharti, seeking to quash charges against her, approached the court of D'Cunha, then the District Judge of

. D'Cunha rejected the petition because according to the statute of limitations, the case was too stale by 697 days. D'Cunha also rejected as defective a petition filed by Government of Karnataka that sought to reopen the case. He directed the government to cite 'proper grounds' for reopening the case and approach the Judicial Magistrate First Class 2nd Court. Following this, Bharti resigned her position as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and on 25 August 2004, surrendered to the court at Hubli, and was remanded into custody for 14 days. The subsequent application to withdraw the case against Bharti and 21 other defendants was accepted on 6 September 2004 by Mohammed Ismail, Judicial Magistrate First Class 2nd Court. Bharti was then released. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Idgah Maidan was the exclusive property of the

Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (abbreviated as HDMC) is the Municipal Corporation responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad, located in North Western part of Karnataka state in Indi ...

(HDMC). The Supreme Court upheld the High Court order that Anjuman e-Islam (AeI) was only allowed to hold prayers in the grounds twice a year, the AeI was not allowed to build any permanent structures on the maidan and directed the HDMC to demolish the commercial complex built by AeI there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Cunha, John Michael Living people 20th-century Indian judges People from Dakshina Kannada district Judges of the Karnataka High Court 1959 births