Sitting Supreme Court judge Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar passed away at a private hospital in Gurugram at the age of 62. Justice Shantanagoudar, who hails from the Dharwad district of Karnataka, had been admitted to the Medanta hospital due to a lung infection and was in the ICU. His condition was stated to be stable till late Saturday night but around 12.30 am, the doctors attending him broke the news to the family, a court official told PTI.
The sources did not confirm or deny whether the judge was suffering from COVID-19.
A statement sent out by Assistant Registrar, Gagan Soni, read, “It is regretfully informed that Hon. Mr. Justice Mohan M.Shantanagoudar has left for heavenly abode today in the late evening hour.”
Justice Shantanagoudar was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on February 17, 2017.
He was born on May, 5, 1958 in Dharwad and got himself enrolled as an advocate on September 5, 1980. He practised for a year at Dharwad in the chambers of advocate IG Hiregoudar, after which he shifted to Bengaluru. In Bengaluru, he practised under advocate Shivaraj V Patil. Later, by 1984, he started independent practice mainly in civil, criminal and constitutional matters.
Justice Shantanagoudar was a part of the Karnataka State Bar Council from 1991 to 1993 and also served as the Chairman of Karnataka State Bar Council from 1995 to 1996. He also served as State Public Prosecutor of Karnataka State from 1999 to 2002.
He was then appointed as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court on May 12, 2003, and became a permanent judge in the court in September 2004.
Later, he was transferred to the Kerala High Court, where he assumed charge as the Acting Chief Justice on August 1, 2016. He became the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court on September 22, 2016, before being elevated as an apex court judge.
(With inputs from PTI)