Gopal Ballav Pattanaik

Who is Gopal Ballav Pattanaik?

Gopal Ballav Pattanaik was the 32nd Chief Justice of India.

He was born on 19 December 1937 in the city of Cuttack, now in Odisha, India. He is the eldest son of Rashbehari Pattnaik and Bidulata Dei.

He attended Ravenshaw College in Cuttack and Allahabad University and earned his law degree from M. S. Law College, Utkal University in Odisha.

In 1962, he enrolled as an advocate for the Orissa High Court, where practised in civil, criminal, constitutional and business cases. He also appeared before the Supreme Court of India.

In 1971, he was appointed to the Standing Counsel for the state Government of Orissa. In 1974 he became an Additional Government Advocate, a post he would hold for four years. In 1983, he was elevated to the bench of the Orissa High Court as a permanent judge. In 1995, he was appointed the Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Several months later, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of India. He went on to occupy the highest judicial post in the country as the Chief Justice of India on 8 November 2002.

When Pattanaik took over as the Chief Justice of India, it appeared that he would not be able to achieve much in the administration of the judiciary, in view of his retirement on December 19. Yet, he began a momentous chapter in the history of Indian judiciary by putting into practice the 'in-house procedure' evolved in 1997 to deal with allegations of misconduct against members of the higher judiciary.