SC judge Justice Khanwilkar retires
Jul 29, 2022
New Delhi [India], July 29 : Justice AM Khanwilkar, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, retired on Friday after his six years old tenure in the apex court.
Justice Khanwilkar was elevated as a Supreme Court judge on May 13, 2016. He has delivered several important judgements and was part of benches which rendered many important verdicts during his tenure.
Attending the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Justice Khanwilkar said, "It has been a long journey of 40 years. I am still trying to grapple with the thought that I just came into the profession and now I am leaving it."
Chief Justice NV Ramana said that ever since Justice Khanwilkar took over the Chairmanship of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee in August 2021, he actively promoted the use of technology in the functioning of the Committee.
"He conceptualised and launched the SCLSC Online Portal to enable access to justice for all. His efforts will certainly be appreciated by all. Just two days ago, thanks to Brother Khanwilkar's initiative we have inaugurated a state-of-the-art front office for SCLSC," CJI said.
He further said that Justice Khanwilkar was at the forefront of the digitisation initiative. "As member, and then as Chairman, of the Computerisation Committee he played a significant role in various initiatives in the Supreme Court, including the launch of the Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records (FASTER) software. I have benefitted from his wisdom a lot in the Collegium. His cooperation and insights have significantly contributed to the progress we made in filling the vacancies in higher judiciary," said CJI Ramana.
SCBA President Vikas Singh said Justice Khanwilkar has authored more than 187 judgments and nearly decided 8,446 cases in the Supreme Court.
Justice Khanwilkar delivered verdicts including in the Aadhaar case, upholding SIT's clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots, and upholding the Enforcement Directorate's powers to arrest, attach property, search and seize under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Born on July 30, 1957 in Pune, Justice Khanwilkar did LLB from a law college in Mumbai and later enrolled as an advocate in 1982. He was later appointed an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000.
On April 4, 2013, Justice Khanwilkar was appointed the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and later the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on November 24, 2013. In 2016, he was elevated to the Supreme Court.
