Kallupurackal Thomas Thomas (born 30 January 1937) is an Indian former judge who served on the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

and is known for his strong opinions on Indian socio-political matters. He was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by the Indian government in 2007 for services in the field of social affairs.

Biography

K. T. Thomas was born in

Kottayam district Kottayam (), is one of 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettumanoor, and Vaikom. It is the only district in Kerala that neither borders the ...

on 30 January 1937. After schooling at Baker Memorial School, he completed his Pre-University course from

CMS College Kottayam The CMS College (CMS College Kottayam) is the first Western-style college in India. Overview The college now has 17 Undergraduate and 18 postgraduate departments. There are six research centres in the college. Research work leading to the degr ...

and B.A. at St. Albert's College, Ernakulam where he served as the College Union Chairman. He studied law at Madras Law College.Justice K.T. Thomas
/ref> He enrolled as an advocate in 1960 and started his career in Kottayam as a junior advocate to Joseph Maliakal, a leading lawyer of those days. Soon, he set up his private practice at District Court, Kottayam and later, at the High Court of Kerala. In 1977, he was directly selected as District and Sessions Judge, securing first rank in the selection tests. He was promoted as a Judge of the

High Court of Kerala 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 ...

in 1985 and served as the Acting Chief Justice in 1995. In 1996, he was appointed as a Judge of the

. During his practice as an advocate, he led an Indian delegation to attend the World Conference on Peace held at Texas, USA in 1976. He also served as Chairman of one of the Commissions set up in the World Conference. Thomas retired from service in 2002 and lives at Muttambalam in Kottayam district. His autobiography, ''Honeybees of Solomon'', published in 2008, is an account of his judicial service of 25 years, which has since been published in Malayalam in the name ''Solomontae Theneechakal''. His son, Justice Bechu Kurien, who was one of the youngest to be a designated Senior Advocate of the Kerala High Court was sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court in March 2020.

Notable judgement

Justice Thomas presided over the Supreme Court bench that confirmed the death sentence in the

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

assassination case.

Political positions

Justice Thomas is very vocal in expressing his views. His recommendations on the fee structure for professional education in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

at unaided institutions also drew opposition from the institution owners. In August 2011, he made a public speech where he exonerated

RSS RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

from the assassination of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

which generated heated public debate. His opposition to the Communal and Targeted Violence bill also created a stir. He termed the Bill to be divisive and against the

constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

. Though Justice Thomas wrote a dissenting note on the report of the Empowered Committee regarding the maintenance of the water level at

Mullaperiyar dam Mullaperiyar Dam , is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala It is located above the sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, India. It was constructed bet ...

, his concurrence with the report stating that the dam was safe raised criticism in his home state of

. In the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, he opined in 2013 that the three accused sentenced to death should be spared from capital punishment due to the delay of 23 years in carrying out the punishment. In March 2014, Thomas declined the offer of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

to head the selection committee of

Lokpal A Lokpal ( sa, लोकपाल ''lokapāla'', "defender of people" or "People's Friend") is an anti-corruption authority or body of ombudsman who represents the public interest in the Republic of India. The current Chairperson of Lokpal is Pra ...

stating the "recommendations of the search committee are not binding on the selection committee. Therefore, the work of the search committee can as well be done by the selection committee itself." Another matter of public interest was his letter to the

Chief Justice of India The chief justice of India (IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation w ...

on allegations raised by Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave regarding the disposal of a 12-year-old land allotment case by a two-judge bench headed by Justice C.K. Prasad, which was actually listed before another three Judge Bench.

Awards

Award by Government of India, 2007.

Positions held

* District and Sessions Judge, Kottayam – 1977 * Additional District and Sessions Judge, Calicut – 1979 * Principal District and Sessions Judge, Calicut – 1981 * Additional Justice, High Court of Kerala – 1985 * Permanent Justice, High Court of Kerala – 1986 * Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Kerala – 1995 * Justice, Supreme Court of India – 1996 * Chairman – Justice K. T. Thomas Committee on Unaided professional colleges – 2003 * Chairman of the Police Reforms Monitoring Committee constituted by the Supreme Court * Chairman of the School Review Commission to review the functioning of National Law School of India University, Bangalore Mukhyarakshaadhikaary of Sevabharathy(A part of RSS) KOTTAYAM.

References

External links

News on Padma bhushan award

on Parliament's use of amending powers

Opinion on Death penalty

on Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

Letter to Prime Minister on Lokpal
*

*