Prafulla Chandra Pant

Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant (born 30 August 1952) is an Indian author and a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India. Prior to his appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of India, he had previously served as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court at Shillong.

Justice Pant was born in Pithoragarh in the state of Uttarakhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh state) on 30 August 1952. He got his primary and secondary education from there, then he graduated from Allahabad University with a degree of Bachelor of Science, followed by a L.L.B. from Lucknow University.

Justice Pant joined the Bar Council at Allahabad in 1973, and entered into Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service in the year 1976 (through Uttar Pradesh Munsif Services Examination, 1973). He held different posts in Judicial Service at Ghaziabad, Pilibhit, Ranikhet, Bareilly and Meerut in state of Uttar Pradesh. Thereafter he was promoted to Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service in 1990, and joined as Additional District Judge of the Bahraich district. He also worked as Joint Registrar in the High Court of Allahabad.

Judge and chief justice

After creation of the new state of Uttarakhand, he served as the first Judicial Secretary of the state. He also held the post of District and Sessions Judge at Nainital district before being posted as Registrar General of the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. He Took oath of Office of Additional Judge, High Court of Uttarakhand with effect from 29 June 2004, where after, he was confirmed on 19 February 2008, as a permanent Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court. He assumed charge of Office of Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya at Shillong in the forenoon of 20 September 2013 and continued till 12 August 2014. On being further elevated he took oath of Office of Judge, Supreme Court of India on 13 August 2014. After serving over 3 years as a judge of the Supreme Court of India, He demitted the office at 29 August 2017.

Defamation and Freedom of Speech

A judgement of a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, which included Justice Pant and Justice Dipak Misra, has been criticized for upholding defamation to be a criminal offense. It has been argued that the verdict strikes a blow against freedom of speech and expression in India.

Justice Pant has written many books on different subjects of law, few of which includes:

• Prafulla Chandra Pant. Marriage, Divorce and Other MatrimonialDisputes
• Prafulla Chandra Pant. Sundar Nirnay Kaise Likhen (in Hindi) (lit. How To Write Good Judgements)
• Prafulla Chandra Pant and T. P. Gopalakrishnan. The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. Law Book Co., 1994
• Prafulla Chandra Pant and Somnath Aggarwal. Commentary On the Law of Maintenance. Orient Publications New Delhi, 1995