V. S. Malimath

Vijaykumar S. Malimath (12 June 1929 – 22 December 2015) was an Indian jurist, who served as Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court^[1] and Karnataka High Court. He also was the Chairman of the Central Administrative Tribunal, and member of the National Human Rights Commission of India. He headed the Committee on Reform of Criminal Justice System.^[2]

Hon'ble Chief Justice (Retd.) Vijaykumar S. Malimath
Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal
In office 12 December 1991 – 11 June 1994
Appointed by	R. Venkataraman
Preceded by	Amitav Banerji
Succeeded by	S. C. Mathur
12th Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court
In office 24 October 1985 – 11 June 1991
Nominated by	P. N. Bhagwati
Appointed by	Zail Singh
Preceded by	K. Bhaskaran
Succeeded by	M. Jagannadha Rao
10th Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court
In office 6 February 1984 – 24 October 1985
Nominated by	Y. V. Chandrachud
Appointed by	Zail Singh
Preceded by	K. Bhimaiah
Succeeded by	Prem Chand Jain
Judge of Karnataka High Court
In office 5 March 1970 – 5 February 1984
Nominated by	M. Hidayatullah
Appointed by	V. V. Giri
Advocate General of Karnataka
In office 23 February 1968 – 4 March 1970
Appointed by	G. S. Pathak
Chief Minister	S. Nijalingappa Veerendra Patil
Preceded by	T. Krishna Rao
Succeeded by	E. S. Venkataramiah
Personal details
Born	(1929-07-12)12 July 1929
Died	22 December 2015(2015-12-22) (aged 86) Bengaluru, India
Children	Ravi Malimath
Alma mater	University of London

Education

Malimath did his primary education from Karnataka. He then secured First Rank in LL.B. and a post Graduate Diploma in Public International Law from University of London in 1952.

Career

Malimath started his law practice in the High Court of Bombay in 1952. He moved his practice to Bangalore in 1956. The state then appointed him Advocate General in 1968.^[3] He rose rapidly through the ranks of the Judiciary. He was appointed a Judge of the Karnataka High Court in 1970 and became Chief Justice of the Karnataka Court in 1984. He was then transferred to Kerala as its Chief Justice in 1985.^[4]

He served on the Central Administrative Tribunal as its chair.^[5] He served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission.^[6] After his retirement from the high court he also headed the Committee on Reform of Criminal Justice System in India. He was a U.N. Representative to monitor human rights enforcement in Nigeria^[7] and Sri Lanka. The International Bar Association included him in a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka to assess the circumstances surrounding a call for a constitutional referendum and its effect on the country's judiciary.^[8][9]

He was also the chair of the Karnataka Border Protection Committee.^[10][11] He also headed committee for reforms in Code of Civil Procedure.

Awards and honors

He represented India in several international conferences. He was conferred with the National Citizen's Award by the President of India, Rajyotsava Award by the Government of Karnataka, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law by Karnataka University. In 2011, Hampi University conferred the Nadoja Award upon V.S. Malimath.^[12][13]