Justice Sathyanarayanan retires; NGT stint soon

CHENNAI: Justice M Sathyanarayanan, one of the senior-most judges at the Madras High Court, has demitted office after being at the helm for 13 years to take charge as the judicial member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Justice M Sathyanarayanan, along with Justice P Rajamanickam was given a farewell in a close-door event attended by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and other judges on Friday.

Though Sathyanarayanan was to retire only on June 6, he was given an early farewell since he is joining the NG T on May 11. The judges’ strength at the High Court has now reduced to 60 against the sanctioned strength of 75. Justice M Sathyanarayanan was enrolled as an advocate in 1983 and worked as junior under MN Padmanaban and KS Dinakaran.

He took up civil and criminal cases before the Madras High Court and lower courts. He also undertook service and tax matters, appearing for clients like the All India Service Officers and Punjab National Bank. He was appointed as an additional judge of the HC on April 23, 2008, and a permanent judge on November 9, 2009.

Recalling the days when Sathyanarayanan practised as a lawyer, senior advocate P Wilson said, “He was to the point in his arguments during the TANSI land acquisition case wherein he appeared for one of the accused persons. I was assisting the specially appointed prosecutor K Venkatapathy then. His good exposure helped in disposing several cases in the court.

When his elevation was delayed in 2007, as an Additional Solicitor General of India, I had provided several inputs in the case.” Bar Council of India Vice Chairman S Prabhakaran said that Sathyanarayanan was an excellent judge and always had a good rapport with the bar. In a lighter vein, the senior advocate added that the judge always took limited food to finish the lunch breaks quickly. During his tenure, Sathyanarayanan had dealt with several important cases.