K. K. Usha (3 July 19395 October 2020) was an Indian judge who served as Chief Justice of the

Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issu ...

. She was the first female judge on the High Court. She advocated for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and for the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Usha served as president of the Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Life and formal career

K. K. Usha was born on 3 July 1939. She enrolled as an advocate in 1961. She was appointed Government pleader in the Kerala High Court in 1979. She was a judge and then Chief Justice in the High Court from 25 February 1991 to 3 July 2001. She was the Chief Justice from 2000 to 2001. She was the first woman to join the High Court from the bar and to become a Chief Justice. After retiring from the High Court, from 2001 to 2004 she was President of the Delhi-based Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Other activities

In 1975, Usha represented India at the International Convention of the

International Federation of Women Lawyers The International Federation of Women Lawyers (IFWL), in Spanish ''Federación Internacional de Abogadas'' (FIDA), is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that enhances the status of women and children by providing legal aid, legal ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. She also represented India at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

' Joint Seminar on "Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination as regards women", which had been organised by the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the International Federation of Women of Legal Careers. She was a member and the President of the University Women's Association. She was involved in "

Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam is a charitable organization situated at Thottumugham, Aluva, Ernakulam district, Kerala, India which is also known as Sree Narayana Giri. It was established in the year 1965 under Societies Registration Act, Travanc ...

", an orphanage and home for destitute women in

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. Between January 2005 and October 2006, Usha headed an enquiry by the

Indian People's Tribunal The Indian People's Tribunal (IPT), also called the Indian People's Tribunal on Environmental and Human Rights or Independent People's Tribunal, was a People's Tribunal set up by the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) on 5 June 1993. The IPT is an ...

(IPT) to investigate the communal situation in Orissa. Activists from the

Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...

disrupted the final hearing in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. Angana P. Chatterji, a member of the tribunal, alleged that Hindu nationalist activists threatened to rape tribunal members and to parade them naked in the streets. Usha and fellow tribunal member R.A. Mehta, a former Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, called the incident "shocking, outrageous and highly deplorable". In December 2011, Usha was a member of an IPT panel on human rights issues in

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

. The panel, sitting in

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

, heard testimony about more than forty cases of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations over a five-year period. It recommended repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the state.

Personal life

Usha was married to lawyer and judge K. Sukumaran and they were the first judge couple in the country. They had two daughters. At the age of 81, she went into

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

and died on 5 October 2020 following spinal cord surgery the previous week.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Usha, K. K. 1939 births 2020 deaths Judges of the Kerala High Court People from Thrissur Chief Justices of the Kerala High Court Indian women educational theorists 20th-century Indian educational theorists 21st-century Indian educational theorists Educators from Kerala Women educators from Kerala 20th-century women educators 21st-century women educators 20th-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian judges 20th-century Indian women judges 21st-century Indian women judges