Former Supreme Court judge Justice Debapriya Mohapatra passes away

Cuttack, Aug 31: Former Supreme Court judge Debapriya Mohapatra passed away at a private hospital in Cuttack today. Justice Mohapatra received his early education from Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Cuttack and Madras Christian College, Madras. He did his graduation from Ewing Christian College, Allahabad and studied law at M.S Law College, Cuttack. He enrolled himself as an advocate at the Odisha High Court in 1960, to begin his expansive career in law. As a successful and distinguished advocate for nearly 23 years at the bar, between 1960 – 1983, he handled a variety of important cases on the constitutional, civil and criminal side and worked in the capacity of Standing Counsel, Transport Department; Additional Government Advocate and lastly Government Advocate before his elevation as a judge of the Odisha High Court in 1983. He was a judge of the High Court between 1983 to 1995, before holding office as the Acting Chief Justice of Odisha High Court between May 1995 and February 1996. Thereafter, Justice Mohapatra was appointed as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, with the largest bench in the country, before being elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on 9th December 1998. He retired on 3rd August 2002 from the Apex Court. Post retirement from the Apex Court, Justice Mohapatra decided to return to his parental house at Cuttack, Odisha and was appointed the first Chairperson of Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) from July 2003 to August 2007. Justice Mohapatra contributed to many notable cases - In Danial Latifi v. Union of India, he was part of the constitution bench that produced a landmark judgment while interpreting the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act and upholding the constitutional validity of the Muslim Women (Protection of Right on Divorce) Act,1986. In Abdul Karim v. the State of Karnataka, Justice Mohapatra was a part of the Supreme Court bench that directed the Government to find sandalwood smuggler Veerappan and his associates who had kidnapped a Kannada film actor and his assistants. He was a great believer in maintaining the highest standard of personal integrity and demeanour in judicial conduct and had a liberal approach to the interpretation of the law to meet the end of social justice.