Justice A.Varadarajan (1920-2009) was a judge of Supreme Court of India.

Hon'ble Justice
Appajee Varadarajan
Judge of Supreme Court of India
In office
10 December 1980 – 16 August 1985
Nominated byY. V. Chandrachud
Appointed byNeelam Sanjiva Reddy
Judge of Madras High Court
In office
1974–1980
Nominated byA. N. Ray
Appointed byFakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Personal details
Born(1920-08-17)17 August 1920
Tirupattur, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tirupattur district, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died(2009-10-15)15 October 2009
Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Early life edit

A. Varadarajan was born into Scheduled Caste family at Jolarpettai, Vellore district, Madras Presidency. He was inspired by Iyothee Thass, a pioneer in Dalit activism, during his youth days. He did his matriculation from Municipal High School at Tirupattur, intermediate from Voorhees College, (Vellore), B.A. from Loyola College (Madras) and LLB from Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College (Madras).[1]

Career edit

In 1944 he was enrolled as a lawyer and practised in civil and criminal on the original and appellate sides. Later he got promoted as Sub-Judge, District and Sessions Judge, Additional Judge and Permanent Judge in 1974.[2]

In 1980 he was nominated as the judge of Supreme Court of India being the first Dalit to reach such position.[3][4]

Varadarajan retired in 1985 and joined Prakash Ambedkar in his efforts for implementing reservations and seeking actions against violence on Dalits.[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ Vignessh (18 August 2020). "The first Dalit SC judge: Tale of a forgotten luminary". The Federal. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Supreme Court of India – Former Judges". 164.100.107.37. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  3. ^ Sengupta, Arghya (21 March 2017). Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court of India: Transparency, Accountability, and Independence. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-909662-6.
  4. ^ "Caste and Judiciary: Looking for Dalit and Adivasi Judges in Supreme Court of India". Round Table India.