S.M. Sikri
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Sarv Mittra Sikri (26 April 1908 – 24 September 1992) was an Indian
advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
and judge who served as the 13th
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 ...
, from 22 January 1971 until his retirement on 25 April 1973. He previously served as the first Advocate General of Punjab before becoming the first of nine Judges 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 ...
to have been appointed directly from the Bar, and also the first of only two to be CJI, directly from the Bar.


Biography

Sikri was born in Lahore on 26 April 1908. He moved to London to study medicine, bust switched to law, studying at Trinity College, Cambridge. Before returning to Lahore in 1930, he served as a barrister-at-law at
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
, in London. He began his legal practise in the chambers of Jagannath Agarwal, who was a leading advocate in the Lahore High Court and practiced criminal and civil law. Following independence, he was appointed the Assistant Advocate General of Punjab in 1949 and soon as the advocate general in 1951. Held the same position almost entirely until his elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1964. As an advocate, he appeared and practised in various courts, ranging from the Lahore High Court and other courts in Punjab to the Federal Court of India and eventually the Supreme Court of India.


Notable judgements

''
I.C. Golaknath and Ors. vs State of Punjab and Anrs. ''Golaknath v. State Of Punjab'' (1967 AIR 1643, 1967 SCR (2) 762), or simply the ''Golaknath case'', was a 1967 Indian Supreme Court case, in which the Court ruled that Parliament could not curtail any of the Fundamental Rights in the Constitut ...
'' had him a part of the thin majority of 6:5, in which the court reversed its earlier decision which had upheld Parliament's power to amend all parts of the Constitution, including Part III related to Fundamental Rights. The judgement left Parliament with no power to curtail Fundamental Rights.


References

Chief justices of India 1908 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian judges {{India-law-bio-stub