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Indira Banerjee is a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. In Indian history, she is the eighth female Judge of the Supreme Court of India. In 2017-18, she was the second woman who was appointed as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court.
Wiki/Biography
Indira Banerjee was born on Tuesday, 24 September 1957 (age 64 years; as of 2021) in Kolkata, West Bengal. Her zodiac sign is Libra. Indira went to the Loreto House in Kolkata for her school education. Later, she earned her bachelors degree in History (Hons.) at the Presidency College, Kolkata and LL.B from the Department of Law at the University of Calcutta.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Her parents’ names are not known.
Husband & Children
There is no much information available on the internet about her personal life.
Career
On 5 July 1985, she was enrolled as an advocate and started practising law at the Calcutta High Court. She practised law in all branches of both – the Original and Appellate Sides at Calcutta High Court except criminal law. On 5 February 2002, she was appointed as the permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court. During her tenure at Calcutta High court, she also served as the chairperson of the Calcutta High Court Services Committee for four years. For a period of one year, she was appointed as the Executive Chairperson of the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority. In July 2013, she was nominated for training in Judicial Administration at the Civil Services College, Singapore for seven days. She was nominated for this training by the then Chief Justice of India. On 8 August 2016, she was transferred to the Delhi High Court. During her tenure at the Delhi High Court, she was appointed as the chairperson of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority. On 5 April 2017, she assumed the charge of the Madras High Court as a Chief Justice after succeeding Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, after he was appointed to the Supreme Court of India. After Justice Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar, Indira Banerjee is the second woman to head the Madras High Court.
Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the oath ceremony at the office to Justice Indira Banerjee at in Raj Bhavan
The notification issued by the government of India on her appointment to the Madras High Court was read as,
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Kumari Justice Indira Banerjee, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, to be a judge of the Supreme Court of India with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office.”
On 7 August 2018, Indira Banerjee was appointed as the Supreme Court of India till her superannuation on 24 September 2022. She is among the four women Supreme Court Judges including Justice B V Nagarathna, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Bela M Trivedi. On 1 September 2021, nine judges in the Supreme Court’s history took oath in one day. The names of these judges were Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice B V Nagarathna, Justice C T Ravikumar, Justice M M Sundresh, Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice P S Narasimha.
Judge of Calcutta High Court
5 February 2002 – 7 August 2016: She was nominated by Sam Piroj Bharucha and appointed by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Judge of Delhi High Court
8 August 2016 – 4 April 2017: She was nominated by T. S. Thakur and appointed by Pranab Mukherjee.
Chief Justice of Madras High Court
5 April 2017 – 6 August 2018: She was appointed by Pranab Mukherjee, preceded by Sanjay Kishan Kaul and succeeded by Vijaya Tahilramani.
Judge of Supreme Court of India
7 August 2018: She was nominated by Dipak Misra and appointed by Ram Nath Kovind.
Notable Judgements
2020: Sushila Aggarwal and Ors. v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors.
2019: Dattatraya v. The State of Maharashtra
2019: State of Haryana v. Angoori Devi and Ors.
2019: Rajendra Diwan v. Pradeep Kumar Ranibala and Ors.
Facts/Trivia
- Justice Indira Banerjee often visits the Tirumala hill shrine along with her family members.
Indira Banerjee spotted at Tirumala hill shrine with her family
- In a conversation with Free Press media house, Indira revealed that she never visited a court in her third and fourth year of studying law at the University of Calcutta. She said,
I when i visited the court, I went to see a case being heard and not as an intern. I heard the pleadings and that changed the course of my life. I was preparing for the civil services exams and had cleared two stages. But then I decided to continue with my practice in the High Court. I found that not all cases were interesting. After assisting my seniors in the High Court, I started practising solo. I had very little idea of the practical aspects of the law.”
- In February 2019, while addressing a national conference on Economic offences and Emerging dynamics and dimensions organised at the Tamil Nadu state judicial Academy (TNSJA) at Racecourse, Indira said that misappropriation of public funds was an economic offence. She said,
People’s money that is handled in a wrong way is also an economic offence.”
Indira Banerjee while speaking at Economic offences and Emerging dynamics and dimensions
- Indira Banerjee was trolled on several social media accounts in 2019 for withdrawing herself from West Bengal’s post-poll violence. This was the case in which many BJP workers were killed, and she was seen demanding an apology from those BJP workers who posted Mamta Banerjee‘s memes on several social media websites.
A viral image with a written caption while trolling Indira Banerjee
- In November 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a meeting with Supreme Court lawyers that Indira Banerjee was his “guru-sister.” He said as Indira Banerjee and Modi both are devotees of the Ramakrishna Mission. They had taken spiritual initiation from the late Swami Atmasthananda. Modi used to stay at Rajkot ashram, and according to the Hindu tradition, those who have the same gurus are brothers and sisters.
- In December 2020, Indira Banerjee while speaking at a webinar on “World Human Rights Day” held at St. Thomas College of Law appealed to the government of India to equally distribute the COVID vaccine to all the states of India. She narrated,
We must ensure that there is equitable distribution of the COVID vaccine, that the benefits of the vaccine are not just confined to the affluent countries but also extended to the less-developed in the underdeveloped countries.”