Sujata Vasant Manohar (born 28 August 1934) is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India (retired in 1999) and a former member of the

National Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

of India.

Early life and education

Ms. Manohar was born into a family with a strong legal background - her father

Kantilal Thakoredas Desai Kantilal Thakoredas Desai (1 May 1903 - 29 January 1977) was the second Chief Justice at the High Court of Gujarat whose term in office was from January 1961 till May 1963. Career Desai studied at Bombay. He enrolled as an Advocate at the Hig ...

would later become the second Chief Justice of the

High Court of Gujarat The Gujarat High Court is the High Courts of India, High Court of the Indian state, state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the ''Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960'' after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State. The seat o ...

. She graduated from

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 ...

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- ...

, and then went to

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Career

After Oxford, she was called to the Bar 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 ...

having simultaneously passed all papers in Parts 1 & 2 of the Bar Exam. She returned to India where she began practice in 1958 on the original side 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 ...

. She dealt primarily with commercial matters, but also took many family law cases under legal aid schemes. This was before India had a formal state legal aid programme, so she voluntarily associated herself with over 30 non-governmental organisations. After around 20 years of practice, which included a substantial amount of public interest and pro-bono work, she was appointed a judge of the High Court of Bombay in 1978, the first woman judge of that court. In January, 1994, she was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay, the first woman to hold that post. In April, 1994, she was transferred as the 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 ...

, again the first woman to hold that post. At the end of 1994 (November), after 16 years as a High Court judge, she 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 ...

, the highest Indian court, from which post she retired in 1999. As a judge, she took a strongly independent stance, defending the rule of law against political and public pressures. In one case, she was called upon to decide on the constitutionality of one aspect of India's affirmative action programme. The government of the day proposed to require Universities to implement a system of quotas for admission to research degrees. This meant that available places would be parcelled out to students based on their caste and religion, not just on their merit. Justice Manohar ruled this unconstitutional, despite a strong backlash from certain interest groups, who, in a show of public umbrage, burnt her effigy. After her retirement, she was appointed to the

. She is an honorary fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and an honorary bencher of Lincoln's Inn, London. She is also a patron of the

Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal The ''Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal'' (''OUCLJ'') is a postgraduate-edited international and comparative law journal from the University of Oxford's Faculty of Law, covering the study of legal trends and developments within and betw ...

.Website - Bombay High Court

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manohar, Sujata 1934 births Living people Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Fellows of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Indian barristers 20th-century Indian judges 20th-century Indian women judges Justices of the Supreme Court of India Judges of the Bombay High Court Chief Justices of the Bombay High Court Chief Justices of the Kerala High Court Scholars from Mumbai Women educators from Tamil Nadu Educators from Tamil Nadu