Sarv Mittra Sikri (26 April 1908 – 24 September 1992) was the 13th Chief Justice 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 ...

from 22 January 1971 until his retirement on 25 April 1973. He began his legal career in 1930 as an attorney practicing at the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...

. Following

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, he was appointed the Assistant Advocate General of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

in 1949. He served as advocate general from 1951 to 1964. In February 1964, he was appointed as judge of the Supreme Court of India, and became Chief Justice of India in January 1971. He was the first Judge of the Supreme Court to have been appointed directly from the Bar, and also the first Chief Justice of India directly from the Bar.

Kesavananda Bharati vs. The State of Kerala Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru & Ors. v. State of Kerala & Anr. (Writ Petition (Civil) 135 of 1970), also known as the Kesavananda Bharati judgement, was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that outlined the basic structure do ...

is a major decision during his tenure as chief justice. He is credited with outlining the ''Basic Structure doctrine'' of 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 ...

References

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