Arjan Kumar Sikri

Arjan Kumar Sikri (born 7 March 1954) is a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He sworn into the post on 12 April 2013. Earlier, he had served as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.^[1]

Early life and education

Sikri has an excellent academic record. He stood third in the merit list in Higher Secondary from CBSE, Delhi. He completed his B.Com(Hons.) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi in 1974, He completed his LL.B. from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in 1977 and won a gold medal for attaining first position in LL.B. in Delhi University. He completed his LLM from Delhi University and stood first in the three-year course.^[2][3]

Career

As a lawyer

Sikri was enrolled as an advocate in 1977 and he started practising in Delhi. He had specialization in Constitutional cases, Labour - Service Matters and Arbitration matters. He was counsel for numerous Public Sector Undertakings, Educational Institutions, Banks & Financial Institutions and various Private Sector Corporations. He was also a part-time lecturer in Campus Law Centre, Delhi University during 1984-89. He was vice-President, Delhi High Court Bar Association during 1994-95.^[2] He was designated as a Senior Advocate by Delhi High Court in 1997.^[4]

As a judge

Sikri was appointed as Judge of the High Court of Delhi in July, 1999 and has also served as the Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court from 10 October 2011 before being elevated as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2012.^[2][3] in 2013 he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.^[5]

Other positions

• Member, General Body and Academic Council of National Judicial Academy (India)
• Patron-in-Chief, Delhi Judicial Academy.
• Member of the committee on Restatement of Law by the Chief Justice of India.
• Patron-in-Chief and Executive Chairman, Delhi Legal Services Authority.
• Secretary, International Law Association (Indian Branch)
• Member, Governing Council of the Indian Law Institute
• Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi (past).^[2][6]

Achievements

Sikri was chosen as one of the 50 most influential persons in Intellectual Property in the world in a survey conducted by Managing Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) for 2007.^[7]

Notable Judgments

• In 2013, a Punjab and Haryana High Court Bench consisting of chief justice A K and justice Jain had upheld the appointment of Punjab director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini who was chargesheeted in a criminal case by a CBI court in Delhi holding that he was "legally competent" to hold his present position.^[8]
• A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Chief Justice Sikri had issued notice to Ministry of External Affairs of India taking cognizance of a Public Interest Litigation application seeking release of two prisoners from Punjab, languishing in Pakistan jails even after completion of their sentence.^[9]
• A division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Chief Justice Sikri had issued directions to the states of Punjab and Haryana and Chandigarh administration on what remedial measures to take to curb the menace of crime against women.^[10] Earlier he had also noted that Judges have to be sensitized about securing out speedy justice in cases related to crime against women, elders, children and discrimination against HIV-infected persons.^[11]

References