G. T. Nanavati (1935-2021) Indian judge

G. T. Nanavati (1935-2021) Indian judge dies at 18 December 2021

G. T. Nanavati Indian judge (1935-2021)

He was a Justice in the Supreme Court of India from March 6, 1995 until February 16, 2000. Before starting his career in law he received his college education at St. Xaviers College in Mumbai, India and the Government Law College also in Mumbai where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law.

After graduating from law school he opened a private practice that dealt with small revenue cases. His true potential was not realizing until he became a public prosecutor in 1964, where he served for 15 years before receiving his first appointment as a judge in the Gujarat High Court in 1979. He served in this court for 14 years before transferring to a high court in Orissa where he was appointed as the chief justice.

Eight months later he made one final transfer to the Karnataka High Court before being appointed as a Supreme Court Justice of India in 1995 where he remained until he retired on Feb 16, 2000. He died from cardiac arrest at his home in Ahmedabad.

Full Bio

Girish Thakorlal Nanavati Biography

Early life

Born in Jambusar, Gujarat, on 17 February 1935, Nanavati was the eldest of twelve children. In his family, his father, grandfather and uncle were all lawyers. Judge Nanavati studied at St. Xaviers College in Mumbai. After finishing his education in the arts, he enrolled in the Government Law College in Mumbai to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law.

Girish Thakorlal Nanavati  Career

Nanavati enrolled as an advocate in the Bombay High Court in 1958.^{[citation needed]} Circumstances forced him to return to Gujarat from Mumbai when the bifurcation of the Bombay state in 1960 left him a hard choice. His wish to practice at the prestigious Bombay High Court went unfulfilled and left for Ahmedabad.^{[citation needed]}

His practice in Ahmedabad was very low key. He dealt with a smattering of revenue cases, but his true potential was realized when he began to practice criminal cases. He received and accepted an offer to become a public prosecutor in 1964, which became a turning point in the young man’s career. At that time, high court judges, not the government, appointed prosecutors. This began a fifteen-year stint prosecuting cases before the high court.^{[citation needed] G. T. Nanavati (1935-2021) Indian judge}

He was appointed a permanent judge to the Gujarat High Court in 1979.^{[citation needed]} Fourteen years later he was transferred to the high court in Orissa. A year later, in 1994, he was appointed chief justice of the High Court of Orissa. He was transferred again eight months later to the Karnataka High Court. In March 1995 he was appointed a judge to the Supreme Court of India by the Congress government. Judge Nanavati retired on 16 February 2000.

Nanavati Commission

Nanavati was appointed by the National Democratic Alliance government to probe the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. He was the sole member of the Nanavati commission. The commission incriminated Indian National Congress politicians Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler. Nanavati has stated that evidence indicated that it was a “lapse on part of the civil administration” not to call the Indian Army in a timely fashion, “resulting in large-scale rioting and loss of lives”.^{[citation needed]}

Godhra riots

Main article: Nanavati-Mehta commission

In March 2002, Judge Nanavati was appointed to head a two-man commission investigating the 2002 Godhra riots, replacing Judge K. G. Shah. Throughout the proceedings and in its final report of November 2014, the commission concluded that there had been no serious lapses by either the police, nor the state administration in dealing with the riots. The report itself has yet to be made public.

Girish Thakorlal Nanavati  Personal life and death

Nanavati died from cardiac arrest on 18 December 2021, at the age of 86 at his home in Ahmedabad.