Girish Thakorlal Nanavati (born 1935 in
JambusarJambusar is a city and a municipality in Bharuch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.-Geography:Jambusar is located at . It has an average elevation of 4 metres .-Demographics:...
,
Gujarat) is a retired judge from the
Supreme Court of IndiaThe Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
. After his retirement he has headed two commissions inquiring into the
1984 Anti-Sikh riotsThe 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
and the
Godhra riotsThe 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
.
Early life
Judge Nanavati is the eldest of twelve children born to a family of professionals. In his family, his father, grandfather and uncle were all lawyers. Judge Nanavati studied at
St. Xaviers CollegeSt. Xavier's College in Mumbai , India is a Roman Catholic college in the Jesuit tradition. The college is named after Francis Xavier, the 16th century Spanish Jesuit saint. It has been awarded the highest rating A+ in the re-accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council in...
in
MumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. After finishing his education in the arts, he enrolled in the Government Law College in
MumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
to receive his bachelors and masters degrees in
lawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
.
Career
Mr. G.T. Nanavati enrolled as an
advocateAn advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
in the
Bombay High CourtBombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
in 1958. Circumstances forced him to return to Gujarat from Mumbai when the bifurcation of the Bombay state in 1960 left him a hard choice. His wish to practice at the prestigious Bombay high court went unfulfilled and left for
AhmedabadAhmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
.
His practice in
AhmedabadAhmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
was very low key. He dealt with a smattering of revenue cases, but his true potential was realized when he began to practice criminal
casesA legal case is a dispute between opposing parties resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case may be either civil or criminal...
. He received and accepted an offer to become a public prosecutor in 1964, which became a turning point in the young man's career. At that time,
high courtIndia's unitary judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the national level, for the entire country and the 21 High Courts at the State level. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories...
judges, not the
governmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
, used to appoint prosecutors. This began a fifteen year stint prosecuting cases before the high court.
He was appointed a permanent judge to the
Gujarat High CourtThe Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960 after the state split from Bombay State.The seat of the court is Ahmedabad...
in 1979. 14 years later he was transferred to the high court in
OrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. A year later, in 1994, he was appointed
Chief justiceThe Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the high court of
OrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. He was transferred again 8 months later to the
Karnataka High CourtThe Karnataka High Court is the High Court of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka. The High Court functions out of a red brick building known as Attara Kacheri...
. In March 1995 he was appointed as a judge to the
Supreme Court of IndiaThe Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
by the Congress government. Judge Nanavati retired in February 2000.
Nanavati Commission
Judge Nanavati was appointed by the
NDAThe National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
to probe the
1984 Anti-Sikh riotsThe 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
. He was the one-man commission aptly named the
Nanavati commissionThe Justice G.T. Nanavati commission was established by the Indian Government in 2000 to investigate the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots.-Creation:The commission was appointed by the National Democratic Alliance government on 8 May 2000 to look into certain matters emanating from the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots....
. The commission incriminated
UPAThe United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
politicians
Sajjan KumarSajjan Kumar is an Indian politician belonging to the ruling Indian National Congress party. He was a member of 14th Lok Sabha representing Outer Delhi constituency....
and
Jagdish TytlerJagdish Tytler is a controversial Indian National Congress politician, and former member of Indian Parliament...
. He has stated that evidence indicated that it was a "lapse on part of the civil administration" not to call the
Indian ArmyThe Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
in a timely fashion, "resulting in large-scale rioting and loss of lives".
Response to Godhra Riots
When asked about the
2002 Godhra riotsThe 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
in 2003 Justice Nanavati stated that evidence recorded till that date had not indicated any 'serious lapses' on the police or the administration of
Gujarat during these riots. These comments came before the two-man commission investigating the riots had recorded testimony in
AhmedabadAhmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
and
VadodaraVadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...
.
Criticism
His appointment, however, has failed to satisfy the critics, who termed it an "eye-wash" and also stated while those opposing the Shah Commission were demanding appointment of a current
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
judge and wanted someone also from outside of
Gujarat to ensure total impartiality, the
Government had given them only half their desires, appointing a retired
GujaratiGujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
judge.
Notable Quotes