Kurian Joseph (born 30 November 1953) is a former

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of 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 ...

. Previously, he has served as Chief Justice of

Himachal Pradesh High Court The Himachal Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the state of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh was born as a result of integration of twenty six Province and four Punjab hill States into a Centrally Administered Area on 15 Ap ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Kurian Joseph was born on 30 November 1953 in Manjapra a village near Angamaly. He was educated at St. Joseph's U.P. School, Chengal, Kalady, St. Sebastian's High School,

Kanjoor Kanjoor is a small town near to Aluva and Perumbavoor. It is in Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, ...

. For higher education, he attended Bharata Mata College,

Thrikkakara Thrikkakkara is a region in the city of Kochi, as well as a municipality in Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala, India. The municipality comprises 43 wards, including Marottichuvadu. It is especially notable for its significance in ...

and Sree Sankara College, both affiliated colleges of Mahatma Gandhi University, and

Kerala Law Academy Kerala Law Academy (KLA), also referred to as the Kerala Law Academy Law College, is a self financing law college in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Founded in 1967, it is the first, and was for many years the only, self financing law instit ...

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

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 ...

Career

Joseph began his legal career in 1979. He was member of the Academic Council,

Kerala University University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

from 1977 to 1978, General Secretary of Kerala University Union in 1978, Senate member of

Cochin University Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) is a state government-owned autonomous university in Kochi, Kerala, India. It was founded in 1971 and has three campuses: two in Kochi (Kalamassery and Ernakulam) and one in Kuttanad, Al ...

from 1983 to 1985, member of the Board of Studies, Indian Legal Thought of Mahatma Gandhi University in 1996, President, Kerala Judicial Academy from 2006 to 2008, Chairman of Kerala High Court Legal Services Committee from 2006 to 2009 and Chairman of Lakshadweep Legal Services Authority in 2008. He served as Government Pleader in 1987 and as Additional Advocate General from 1994 to 1996. He was designated as Senior Advocate in 1996. Joseph has also been Chairman of the Indian Law Institute Kerala Branch, Chairman of Indian Law Reports (Kerala Series) and Executive Member of NUALS (National University of Advanced Legal Studies). In 2000, Kurian Joseph was appointed a judge of the

. In February 2010, he was elevated as Chief Justice of the

. On 8 March 2013, he became a judge of

. Joseph believes that people have high expectations of the judiciary and that it should play a pro-active role to meet their aspirations.

Notable cases

The bench of Justice R. M. Lodha, Justice

Madan Lokur Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur (born 31 December 1953) is an Indian jurist. He is a Judge of Supreme Court of Fiji. He is former Judge of Supreme Court of India. He is also former Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court and Gauhati High Cou ...

and Justice Joseph is hearing the controversial coal allocation scam case and vowed to free the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

(CBI) from any political and bureaucratic interference. A bench of Chief Justice Lodha, Kurian Joseph and R. F. Nariman overruled the Afsal Guru decision on the point of admissibility of electronic evidence. On 22 August 2017, Justice Joseph gave a verdict against the controversial

Triple Talaq Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some initiated by the husband and some initiated by the wife. The main traditional legal categories are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce or ransom divorce) Historically, the rules ...

. In his judgement he said, "I find it extremely difficult to agree with the learned Chief Justice that the practice of triple talaq has to be considered integral to the religious denomination in question and that the same is part of their personal law...."

Post retirement

Joseph has been appointed the arbitrator on behalf of the government of Kerala in the dispute with

Adani Group Adani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Ahmedabad. It was founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business, with the flagship company Adani Enterprises. The Group's diverse businesses include po ...

over the completion of Vizhinjam Port in Kerala.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Kurian 1953 births Living people Malayali people Indian Christians Saint Thomas Christians Justices of the Supreme Court of India Judges of the Kerala High Court Chief Justices of the Himachal Pradesh High Court 20th-century Indian judges People from Ernakulam district Advocates General for Indian states 21st-century Indian judges 21st-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian lawyers University of Kerala alumni Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala alumni