N Anand Venkatesh

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The Honourable
Justice of Madras High Court
Justice N Anand Venkatesh
Judge of Madras High Court
Assumed office
13 February 2020
Nominated byCollegium of the Supreme Court of India headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde
Appointed byPresident Ram Nath Kovind
Additional Judge of Madras High Court
In office
4 June 2018 – 12 February 2020
Nominated byCollegium of the Supreme Court of India headed by Chief Justice S K Kaul
Appointed byRam Nath Kovind, President of India
Personal details
Born (1969-07-04) 4 July 1969 (age 52)
Parents
  • M. A. Nanda (father)
  • Choodamani (mother)
Alma materAmbedkar Law College

Justice N Anand Venkatesh is a sitting Judge of the Charted High Court of Madras.[1]

Early life[]

N Anand Venkatesh born on 4 July 1969. He studied in St. Mary’s School at Perambur. He graduated with Bachelor of Commerce from A.M. Jain College, Meenambakkam and Bachelor of Law from Ambedkar Law college, Chennai.[1]

Judge of High Court[]

The Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India S K Kaul recommended the appointment of N Anand Venkatesh as an Additional Judge of Madras High Court on December 19, 2016. The recommendation was cleared by the Supreme Court collegium in December 2017 and he was appointed on 4th June, 2018.[2]

The Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde in a meeting held on February 12, 2020 approved the appointment of N Anand Venkatesh as Permanent Judge of Madras High Court.[3]

Notable judgments[]

LGBTQ Rights[]

S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police[]

Main article: S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police

On April 28, 2021, Madras High Court Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed an interim orders in response to a petition filed by two young women with same sex orientation. According to the order, in an unprecedented move, he decided to undergo psycho-education before penning a judgment on same sex relationships.[4][5][6]

Ignorance is no justification for normalizing any form of discrimination

— Justice N Anand Venkatesh, Page number 49 out of 104

Judge said that psyhco-educative counseling on queer issues helped him shed his personal ignorance and prejudices. He clearly stated in the judgment that the responsibility to change, the burden of unlearning stigma, and learning about the lived experience of the queer community lies on the society and not the queer individuals.[7]

It was I (us), who has to set off on a journey of understanding them and accepting them and shed our notions, and not they who have to turn themselves inside out to suit our notions of social morality and tradition

— Justice N Anand Venkatesh, Page number 50 out of 104

The court recognized that there’s an absence of a specific law to protect the interests of queer people and acknowledged it is the responsibility of the constitutional courts to fill this vacuum with necessary directions to ensure the protection of such couples from harassment sourced from stigma and prejudices.[7]

Till the legislature comes up with an enactment, the LGBTQIA+ community cannot be left in a vulnerable atmosphere where there is no guarantee for their protection and safety.

— Justice N Anand Venkatesh, Page number 55 out of 104

On 7th June, 2021, in delivering the verdict on this case, Justice N Anand Venkatesh prohibited Conversion Therapy. He suggested comprehensive measures to sensitize the society and various branches of the State including the Police and judiciary to remove prejudices against the LGBTQIA+ community. He suggested that changes be made to the curricula of schools and universities to educate students on understanding the LGBTQIA+ community.[4][8][9]

"This Court is unable to understand the need for such a knee-jerk reaction within hours of the material getting uploaded on the website. If someone really had a grievance, the same should have been addressed in a proper manner through proper consultation and meetings, and no one can be allowed to arm-twist a State-run council into forcibly withdrawing a material that came out after a long study by a committee."

— Justice N Anand Venkatesh, about the withdrawal of the NCERT report on gender non-conforming and transgender children from its official website.

The report titled 'Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap' was taken down within hours of its publishing, owing to external pressure.

The report, which was meant as training material for educators at schools, was removed from the site after the NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) sent a notice to the NCERT against the manual following complaints raised against the material from certain sections.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh, on addressing the needs of transgender children and those with binary identities, noted that sensitization has to start from schools and home, and without family support, children belonging to the community would never be able to get support elsewhere. The court reasoned that the report of an expert body cannot be disregarded due to opposition from a few quarters that still hesitate to recognize the LGBTQIA+ Community.

The judge directed the NCERT to submit its report on the issue before the court on December 23.[10][11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Madras High Court | Profile of Judges". www.hcmadras.tn.nic.in. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  2. ^ Jun 1, Sureshkumar / TNN /; 2018; Ist, 18:27. "Madras high court gets seven more judges | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-06-07.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ 100010509524078 (2020-02-14). "9 additional judges at MHC made permanent". dtNext.in. Retrieved 2021-06-07.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police, W.P.No. 7284 of 2021 (Madras High Court).Text
  5. ^ S, Mohamed Imranullah (2021-04-29). "Judge wants to learn about same sex relationships before penning judgment". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  6. ^ Emmanuel, Meera. ""I am not fully 'woke' on this aspect:" Madras High Court Judge fixes appointment with psychologist to understand same-sex relationships better". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  7. ^ a b Tripathi, Karan (2021-06-07). "Society Needs to Change, Not the LGBTQIA+ Couples: Madras HC". TheQuint. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  8. ^ Krishnan, Murali. "[BREAKING] Madras High Court bans medical attempts to cure sexual orientation; suggests changes to school curricula to educate students on LGBTQ". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  9. ^ "Madras High Court bans medical attempts to "cure" sexual orientation, issues guidelines for LGBTQIA+ community safety". India Legal. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  10. ^ James, Sebin (2021-12-08). "NCERT Withdrawing Transgender Children Report Due To "Pressure Tactics" Unfortunate : Madras High Court". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  11. ^ "Madras High Court 'dismayed' over taking down of transgender-inclusive manual from NCERT website". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-12-10.

External links[]

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