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Katju killed judgeship of lawyer who lived unmarried with 'lady lawyer' ('If you want to be judge' get married or stay single)

Ex-Supreme Court judge and high court chief justice Markandey Katju wrote on his blog that he had once spiked his own recommendation of a high court lawyer for judgeship, because that “male lawyer was having a live in relationship with a lady lawyer to whom he was not married. They were often seen openly going to parties, functions and restaurants together. Due to this advice I dropped the idea of recommending the name of that lawyer for Judgeship of the High Court.” Satyam Bruyat

When people later criticised his decision afterwards, he wrote:

My reply was that while I myself am fairly modern, Indian society is largely still conservative, and largely still does not approve of live in relationship, though it is not illegal.. While lawyers can have live in relationship, it is as yet not ethically permissible to Judges.

So if you want to be judge, please do not have a live in relationship

In 2010, Katju decided in the Supreme Court that “Indian society is changing, and this change has been reflected and recognized by Parliament by enacting The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005”, accepting that “relationship in the nature of marriage” could potentially also include “live in relationships”. Hat-tip @mohitsingh8

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