Background
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.
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Gopala Pattanaik
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Education
He attended Ravenshaw College in Cuttack and Allahabad University and earned his law degree from M. South. Law College, Utkal University in Odisha.
Career
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.
Some of the well published judgements of Justice Pattanaik include:-
the Narmada Dam Project.
Acquittal of several persons belonging to the minority community in cases relating to the Bombay riots. The constitutional reference on the minority educational institutions. He visited Britain and the United States and participated in workshops and seminars with the judges of the House of Lords in Britain and the United States Supreme Court, respectively.
He was conferred an honorary doctorate in law Doctor of Laws by the Utkal University.
He has 3 children Amar, Anjan, and Rinku. Living in Hamburg, Cuttack, and Mumbai respectively.
Achievements
Membership
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. Justice Pattanaik was a member of the Indo British and Indo-United States. judicial exchange programme.
