K. K. Usha

K. K. Usha
Usha in May 2020
Chief JusticeofKerala High Court
In office 2000–2001
Appointed by	K. R. Narayanan
Preceded by	Arvind Vinayakarao Savant
Succeeded by	B. N. Srikrishna
Judge of Kerala High Court
In office 1991–2000
Personal details
Born	(1939-07-03)3 July 1939 Thrissur,Kerala, India
Died	5 October 2020(2020-10-05)(aged 81)
Spouse	K. Sukumaran
Children	2
Signature

K. K. Usha(3 July 1939 – 5 October 2020) was an Indian judge who served asChief Justiceof theKerala High Court.She was the first female judge on the High Court. She advocated forwomen's rightsand for the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Usha served as president of the Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Life and formal career

K. K. Usha was born on 3 July 1939.She enrolled as an advocate in 1961. She was appointed Government pleader in the Kerala High Court in 1979.She was a judge and then Chief Justice in the High Court from 25 February 1991 to 3 July 2001.She was the Chief Justice from 2000 to 2001.She was the first woman to join the High Court from the bar and to become a Chief Justice. After retiring from the High Court, from 2001 to 2004 she was President of the Delhi-based Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Other activities

In 1975, Usha represented India at the International Convention of theInternational Federation of Women LawyersinHamburg,Germany.She also represented India at theUnited Nations' Joint Seminar on "Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination as regards women", which had been organised by the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the International Federation of Women of Legal Careers.She was a member and the President of the University Women's Association. She was involved in "Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam",an orphanage and home for destitute women inTrivandrum.

Between January 2005 and October 2006, Usha headed an enquiry by theIndian People's Tribunal(IPT) to investigate the communal situation in Orissa.Activists from theSangh Parivardisrupted the final hearing inBhubaneswar. Angana P. Chatterji,a member of the tribunal, alleged that Hindu nationalist activists threatened to rape tribunal members and to parade them naked in the streets.Usha and fellow tribunal memberR.A. Mehta,a former Acting Chief Justice of the High Court ofGujarat,called the incident "shocking, outrageous and highly deplorable".

In December 2011, Usha was a member of an IPT panel on human rights issues inManipur. The panel, sitting inImphal,heard testimony about more than forty cases of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations over a five-year period. It recommended repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the state.

Personal life

Usha was married to lawyer and judgeK. Sukumaranand they were the first judge couple in the country.They had two daughters. At the age of 81, she went intocardiac arrestand died on 5 October 2020 following spinal cord surgery the previous week.

External links

• Media related toK. K. Ushaat Wikimedia Commons