Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, who was the acting chief justice of the Kerala High Court, and the chief justice of four high courts passed away here on Monday morning. He was 63.
Justice Radhakrishnan had served as a judge of the Kerala High Court from October 2004 to March 2017 and had served as the acting chief justice from May to August, 2016 and from February to March, 2017. He had also served as the chief justices of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Calcutta high courts.
Known as a judge with a strong civic sense, justice Radhakrishnan had intervened in many social issues while being a judge at the Kerala high court and later as the acting chief justice.
In July 2012, a bench led by justice Radhakrishnan had ordered police to invoke preventive detention against persons demanding ‘nokkukooli’ while considering a petition filed by Kollam Labour Contract Cooperative Society.
The landmark judgment that KSEB is liable to compensate those who die due to electrocution was delivered by a bench led by justice Radhakrishnan in March 2014 (KSEB and Another Vs. Mary Varkey and Others). It is so as the principle of strict liability would apply, the bench had held.
Justice Radhakrishnan also delivered another notable judgment (State of Kerala Vs. Santa and Others) in November 2014 while holding that the government is liable to compensate for failed sterilization surgeries as those who opted for it were induced by the propaganda for population control, which presented it as a foolproof method.
It was a bench led by justice Radhakrishnan that, in January 2016, raised the question whether elephants are a must for ‘arattu’ (procession) and other rituals at Sabarimala Temple. The court had cited the 2011 stampede and had said the presence of elephants would affect crowd-control measures.
Justice Radhakrishnan had also intervened in the 2016 Puttingal temple fire and had pulled up the police for failing to prevent such a disaster despite the temple committee failing to produce the licence for holding the fireworks.
A full court reference will be held at the high court at 10.15am on Tuesday in view of the demise of justice Radhakrishnan. His body was cremated at Pachalam Crematorium at 5pm on Monday with state honours.
Social media is bold.
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our journalism free from government and corporate pressure .
0 Comments