{{Short description|Indian judge (born 1947)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Justice Cyriac Joseph DSW.jpg | name = Cyriac Joseph | caption = | office = Member of National Human Rights Commission of India | term_start = 27 May 2013 | term_end = 28 January 2017 | appointer = Pranab Mukherjee | 1blankname = Chairperson | 1namedata = K. G. Balakrishnan | status1 = Acting Chairperson | term_start1 = 11 May 2015 | term_end1 = 28 February 2016 | predecessor1 = K. G. Balakrishnan | successor1 = H. L. Dattu | office2 = Judge of Supreme Court of India | term_start2 = 7 July 2008 | term_end2 = 27 January 2012 | nominator2 = K. G. Balakrishnan | appointer2 = Pratibha Patil | office3 = 23rd Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court | term_start3 = 7 January 2006 | term_end3 = 6 July 2008 | nominator3 = Y. K. Sabharwal | appointer3 = A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | predecessor3 = {{ubl|N. K. Sodhi|B. Padmaraj ''(acting)''}} | successor3 = {{ubl|P. D. Dinakaran|Deepak Verma ''(acting)''}} | office4 = 4th Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court | term_start4 = 20 March 2005 | term_end4 = 6 January 2006 | nominator4 = R. C. Lahoti | appointer4 = A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | predecessor4 = V. S. Sirpurkar | successor4 = {{ubl|Rajiv Gupta|Prakash Chandra Verma ''(acting)''}} | office5 = Judge of Kerala High Court | term_start5 = 24 September 2001 | term_end5 = 19 March 2005 | nominator5 = A. S. Anand | appointer5 = K. R. Narayanan | status6 = Acting Chief Justice | term_start6 = 2 March 2005 | term_end6 = 18 March 2005 | appointer6 = A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | predecessor6 = B. Subhashan Reddy | successor6 = {{ubl|Rajiv Gupta|K. S. Radhakrishnan ''(acting)''}} | term_start7 = 18 November 2004 | term_end7 = 20 November 2004 | appointer7 = A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | predecessor7 = N. K. Sodhi | successor7 = B. Subhashan Reddy | term_start8 = 2 October 2002 | term_end8 = 1 November 2002 | appointer8 = A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | predecessor8 = B. N. Srikrishna | successor8 = Jawahar Lal Gupta | office9 = Judge of Delhi High Court | term_start9 = 5 August 1994 | term_end9 = 23 September 2001 | nominator9 = M. N. Venkatachaliah | appointer9 = S. D. Sharma | office10 = Judge of Kerala High Court | term_start10 = 6 July 1994 | term_end10 = 4 August 1994 | nominator10 = M. N. Venkatachaliah | appointer10 = S. D. Sharma | education = B.Sc. & B.L. | alma_mater = Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram<br>St. Berchmans College Changanacherry | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|1|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Kaipuzha, Kottayam | spouse = Smt. Biby | children = Four }} '''Cyriac Joseph''' (born 28 January 1947) is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, who served from 7 July 2008 to 27 January 2012.<ref name="Vikramjit Sen, Gopalagowda, Eqbal to join Supreme Court soon">{{cite news|title=Vikramjit Sen, Gopalagowda, Eqbal to join Supreme Court soon|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/vikramjit-sen-gopalagowda-eqbal-to-join-supreme-court-soon/article4168006.ece|work=The Hindu|date=5 December 2012 |accessdate=19 May 2013|quote=After the retirement of Justice Cyriac Joseph in January this year, there was no representation for Christians and Justice Sen will fill this vacancy.}}</ref><ref name="Justice Cyriac Joseph appointed SC judge">{{cite news|title=Justice Cyriac Joseph appointed SC judge|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/justice-cyriac-joseph-appointed-sc-judge_451594.html|accessdate=19 May 2013|newspaper=Zee News|date=27 June 2008}}</ref><ref name="Justice Cyriac Joseph profile at SC">[http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/sjud/cjoseph.htm Website Supreme Court of India]</ref>
==Early life== Joseph was born in Kaipuzha, Kottayam Kerala on 28 January 1947. He completed his education from Kaipuzha St. Margarette's U.P.School, Kaipuzha St. George's High School, Palai St Thomas College, St. Berchmans College Changanacherry and Trivandrum Government Law College.<ref name="Justice Cyriac Joseph profile at SC"/><ref name="Website Knanaya Community">[http://www.knanaya.us/id33.html Website Knanaya Community]</ref> His marriage was held in Collective Wedding (Samooha vivaham) conducted by Knanaya Community, in which he was a leader, to give message to community to reduce marriage extravagances.
==Career== He started his career in advocacy on 12 October 1968 and started practicing in District Court Kottayam and then shifted to Kerala High Court at Ernakulam. He served as Government Pleader in Kerala High Court from 1976 to 1979, as Senior Government Pleader in Kerala High Court from 1979 to 1987, as Additional Advocate General of Kerala State from 6 July 1991 to 5 July 1994. He was appointed permanent judge of Kerala High Court on 6 July 1994. Thereafter, on 5 August 1994 he has been transferred to Delhi High Court and transferred back to Kerala High Court on 24 September 2001. He was the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court and Karnataka High Court.<ref name="Justice Cyriac Joseph profile at SC"/>
He became a judge of Supreme Court of India on 7 July 2008 and served until 27 January 2012.<ref name="Justice Cyriac Joseph profile at SC"/><ref name="Website Knanaya Community"/> After retirement, he was supposed to have been nominated as the Chairman of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). That appointment was put on hold following Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's reservations about the appointment since the judge had been criticised for his style of functioning by an intelligence agency of the government.<ref name=Firewall>{{cite news|last=Singh|first=Rohini|title=TDSAT chief selection runs into Kapil Sibal firewall|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-04/news/37437192_1_tdsat-telecom-disputes-settlement-chief-justice|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409204005/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-04/news/37437192_1_tdsat-telecom-disputes-settlement-chief-justice|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 April 2013|accessdate=16 May 2013|newspaper=Economic Times|date=4 March 2013}}</ref> Subsequently, the government has been trying to appoint him as a member of the National Human Rights Commission but the opposition BJP has been staunchly opposed to the idea.<ref name=NHRC>{{cite web|last=Malik|first=Surabhi|title=Government and BJP clash over NHRC appointment yet again|url=http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/government-and-bjp-clash-over-nhrc-appointment-yet-again-367725|publisher=NDTV|accessdate=16 May 2013}}</ref> The Sunday Guardian reported that Justice Joseph delivered only 10 judgements during his tenure of 1300 days.<ref name="Judge Cyriac of NHRC fame gave 10 verdicts in 1,300 days">{{cite news|title=Judge Cyriac of NHRC fame gave 10 verdicts in 1,300 days|url=http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/judge-cyriac-of-nhrc-fame-gave-10-verdicts-in-1300-days|accessdate=19 May 2013|newspaper=The Sunday Guardian|date=18 May 2013|archive-date=25 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725234022/http://www.sunday-guardian.com/news/judge-cyriac-of-nhrc-fame-gave-10-verdicts-in-1300-days|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Cyriac}} Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Indian judges Category:21st-century Indian judges Category:Chief justices of the Karnataka High Court Category:Chief justices of the Uttarakhand High Court Category:Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, alumni Category:Judges of the Delhi High Court Category:Judges of the Kerala High Court Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of India Category:Malayali people Category:Ombudsmen in India Category:People from Kottayam district