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AWARDS AND HONOURS

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/23/2020 11:45:41 AM

Amitava Roy: Recipient of Padma Shri

Amitava Roy (born 1 March 1953) is the retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and former Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court and Rajasthan High Court. He is also a puisne judge of the Gauhati High Court. He was born in Dibrugarh. He belongs to a family of lawyers. His father Late Anadi Bhushan Roy was a practising Senior Advocate. His father-in-law, Late Salil Kumar Dutta and Brother-in-law Dipankar Datta had been a judge of the Calcutta High Court. Education He did his education at Dibrugarh. After completing post graduation in Physics from Dibrugarh University, did his LL.B. from the same University in 1976. Legal practice Amitava Roy was enrolled with the Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh on 20 February 1976. Had practised before the District Courts in the District of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia from 1976 to 1981. Shifted his practice before the Gauhati High Court in 1981 and since then practised before the Gauhati High Court, the Central Administrative Tribunal, Guwahati and the District Subordinate Courts at Guwahati. Practised mainly on the Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Labour and Revenue side. Has expertise in Civil, Criminal and Service matters. Had been the Senior Govt. Advocate of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh in the Gauhati High Court from 1991 to 1996. Was a member of Assam Law Commission till elevation. Was designated Senior Advocate by the High Court on 3 June 1999. Elevation Elevated as the Judge of the High Court on 4 February 2002. He was administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court on 2 January 2013 by Margaret Alva The Governor of Rajasthan. Took oath as Supreme Court Judge, in February 2015. Notable Judgements National Anthem A judgement of a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India, which included Roy and Dipak Misra, made it compulsory for cinema halls across India to play the National Anthem of India before the screening of any film, and mandated that the audience stand while the National Anthem was played. The verdict has been widely criticized for being an assault on civil liberties and individual rights in India. It was pointed out that the ruling contravened an earlier judgement of the Indian Supreme Court in which children in India claiming religious allegiance to Jehovah's Witnesses were permitted to refrain from singing the National Anthem during school assemblies in accordance with their religious rights. Following this order, Indian police has started arresting moviegoers who fail to stand when the National Anthem is played in cinema halls in India.