Lawyer and Chief Justice of India

K.G. Balakrishnan was born on May 12th 1945 at Thalayolaparambu, close to Vaikom in Kottayam, Kerala. He is India’s 37th Chief Justice and the only Dalit and Malayali to have earned such a position.

Born in a poverty-stricken home, Judge Balakrishnan belonged to a Pulaya caste, which is among the lower castes in Kerala. Following the completion of his primary education at the Government School, K.G. Balakrishnan attended the Maharaja’s College at Ernakulam, where he studied science. He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree at the Maharaja’s Law College and was at the Kerala Bar Council in 1968. Three years later, he received his LL.M. degree.

K.G. Balakrishnan worked on civil and criminal cases for the Ernakulam court before he became the Kerala Judicial Services’ Munsif (or a Judicial Magistrate) in the early part of the 70s. By 1985, he was chosen as judge of the Kerala High Court and, after twelve years, was transferred to the Gujarat High Court.

In 1998, K.G. Balakrishnan was promoted as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Madras a year later. Then on June 8th 2000, he became a Supreme Court judge. By January 14th 2007, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam appointed him as India’s Chief Justice.

His source of inspiration for his success was his parents. “Though my father was only a matriculate and my mother had her schooling up to the seventh standard, they wanted to give their children the best education.”