Raghunandan Swarup Pathak renowned as a meticulous Judge, he inspired Loyalty in those who work for and alongside him. The breadth and depth of his legal knowledge was allied to a modest humanity that enabled him to understand the people who came before him as effectively as he grasped the application of relevant law.
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak was born on 24th November 1924 in Bareilly and died on 17th November 2007. He was the 18th Chief Justice Of India. Talking about his professional life, R. S. Pathak was one of the 3 judges that were an esteemed part of the International Court of Justice. Other Indian Judges with R. S. Pathak were Justice Nagendra Singh and Justice Dalveer Bhandari respectively. He is acclaimed for his role in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. He was the son of Gopal Swarup Pathak, a former Vice President Of India.
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak was a student of St. Joseph College in the Allahabad city of Uttar Pradesh state of India. He studied Law at the prestigious Allahabad University. Later he became a judge at the Allahabad High Court in the year 1962. After serving as the judge of the esteemed Allahabad High Court for years, Judge R. S. Pathak became the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 1972.
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak was nominated to the Supreme Court of India by the then CJI Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, who was the head of Collegium of judges at that time. R. S. Pathak became a Judge at The Supreme Court of India in 1978. After replacing Justice P. N. Bhagwati, in the year 1986, judge Pathak was made the 18th Chief Justice of India. He was appointed by the President of India – Giani Zail Singh. He was responsible for bringing relative peace to the Indian judicial system. In his tenure of over Two and half years as the Chief Justice of India, R. S. Pathak appointed dozens of judges from around the India in the Supreme Court. In the year 1989, he was replaced by Judge E. S. Venkataramiah.
R.S. Pathak was the head of inquiry committee into matters relating to Volcker Committee Report which is regarding the alleged Indian Links in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme.
Justice Pathak was the Co-President, Court of Arbitration for Sport Ad Hoc Division, 1996 (Atlanta) and 2000 (Sydney) Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games (Nagano-1998).For the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, he was the President of the Court of Arbitration. He is also the President of the Court of Arbitration for the Winter Olympic Games to be held at Salt Lake City in the USA.
He also had a close relationship with the Shivalik and Himalayan region during his tenure as the Chief Justice at Shimla. He is also the Member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law. Among his several laurels is an honorary doctorate from Punjab University.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy was one of his Landmark Judgement.
In this case R.S. Pathak facilitated an out of court settlement between Union Carbide Cooperation and the Government of India in 1989 regarding the compensation to be paid for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The government had sought $3.3 billion but received only $470 million and the settlement resulted in the dropping of criminal liability charges against Union Carbide in the case. Within three months of his retirement R.S. Pathak became a member of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The Supreme Court in 1991 upheld the settlement in 1991 thus ending Union Carbide’s liability in the case.
****
- https://www.scobserver.in/judges/r-s-pathak/
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020208/main2.htm
- https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/Raghunandan_Swarup_Pathak
- https://www.lawinsider.in/uncategorized/r-s-pathak
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE SAME, DO LET ME KNOW.
Do follow me on Facebook, Twitter Youtube and Instagram.
The copyright of this Article belongs exclusively to Ms. Aishwarya Sandeep. Reproduction of the same, without permission will amount to Copyright Infringement. Appropriate Legal Action under the Indian Laws will be taken.
If you would also like to contribute to my website, then do share your articles or poems at secondinnings.hr@gmail.com
In the year 2021, we wrote about 1000 Inspirational Women In India, in the year 2022, we would be featuring 5000 Start Up Stories.