Madhukar Hiralal Kania (18 November 1927 – 1 February 2016) was an Indian judge who became the 23rd

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 ...

, serving from 13 December 1991 until his retirement on 17 November 1992. He was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. His uncle was Sir Harilal Jekisundas Kania, the first Chief Justice of India. Kania was educated at

Fellowship School A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, St. Xavier's High School,

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

and the

Government Law College, Mumbai The Government Law College, Mumbai, (GLC Mumbai), founded in 1855, is the one of the oldest law schools in Asia. The college, affiliated to the University of Mumbai, is run by the Government of Maharashtra. Bal Gangadhar Tilak ,Pratibha Pa ...

. He enrolled as an Advocate on 1 November 1949 at Bombay High Court. He practiced mainly in civil suits and commercial matters in the High Court and the Bombay City Civil Court, Bombay. He also appeared for the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

in civil suits in the Bombay City Civil Court. He was Assistant Government Pleader for the State of

in the Bombay City Civil Court from 5 December 1964 to 15 January 1967. He was government pleader for the State of

in the Bombay City Civil Court from 16 January 1967 to 3 November 1969. He was appointed Additional Judge of the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...

with effect from 14 November 1969. He was appointed a permanent Judge of

on 2 November 1971. In June 1986 he was appointed Chief Justice of the

. In May 1987, he was appointed a Judge 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 ...

, and became the

in December 1991.

External links

Brief biography at http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/

Madhukar Hiralal Kania's obituary
1927 births 2016 deaths Chief justices of India Scholars from Mumbai Judges of the Bombay High Court Chief Justices of the Bombay High Court 20th-century Indian judges 20th-century Indian lawyers {{India-law-bio-stub ml:മധുകർ ഹരിലാൽ കനിയ