Dharam Chand Chaudhary is an Indian judge. He served as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court from 2012 to 2020. He is also the former acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.
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Wiki/Biography
Dharam Chand Chaudhary was born on Wednesday, 12 March 1958 (age 65 years; as of 2023) in Lohara village, Balh tehsil of Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. His zodiac sign is Pisces. He grew up in a farming family with a simple background. After completing his primary education at Government Primary School, Lohara, he did his matriculation from Government High School, Hatgarh, District-Mandi (Himachal Pradesh). He graduated from Government Degree College, Kullu and obtained LLB degree from Himachal Pradesh University in 1983.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 9″
Hair Color: Gray
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
There is not much information about his parents and siblings.
wife and children
His wife’s name is Promila Chaudhary. They have a son, Prashant Chaudhary, and a daughter, Vatsala Chaudhary. Vatsala Choudhary (born 1989) is an advocate who joined the HP Judicial Service in the cadre of Civil Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate in 2016, becoming the first woman judge from the Balh region.
Dharam Chand Choudhary and his wife Promila Choudhary worshiping at the Sri Bhagyalakshmi Mata Temple Charminar in Hyderabad.
Dharam Chand Choudhary with his wife Promila Choudhary and daughter Vatsala Choudhary, celebrating after Vatsala passed the judicial examination and was selected as a civil judge in 2016.
Dharam Chand Chaudhary with his daughter Vatsala Chaudhary
Religion
He follows Hindu religion.
Address
- Village and Post Office, Lohara, Tehsil Balh, District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India
- Arindam, Aira Holme Estate Near Kasumpti Shimla, Himachal Pradesh- 171009
livelihood
He enrolled as an advocate on 10 May 1983. For twelve years, he worked as a lawyer in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, subordinate courts and the now defunct Himachal Pradesh State Administrative Tribunal. He appears in the High Court in civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, company and service matters. Apart from this, he also worked as Additional Central Government Standing Counsel and Legal Adviser-cum-Standing Counsel at HP Khadi and Village Industries Board, HP Milk Federation, HP Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation and HP Agricultural University, Palampur . District Kangra in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh. He has prosecuted cases in the High Court on behalf of the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation and The Kangra Central Co-operative Bank. He was empaneled as an advocate on the panel of United Commercial Bank to conduct cases on its behalf in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh. He has held various positions in the High Court Bar Association of Himachal Pradesh, including Treasurer (1986–87), Secretary (1989–1991), Vice President and President (1993–1994). In 1994–95, he was nominated as a non-official member of the Council of Law Reporting, HP High Court for a period of three years. He entered the HP Higher Judicial Service in 1995.
Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary and Justice Surya Kant in Himachal Pradesh High Court
He was appointed as Additional District and Sessions Judge, HP Higher Judicial Service, through direct recruitment on 1 August 1995. In September 1995, he assumed the role of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kullu (Independent Charge), Civil & Mandi is a sessional division in Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts. He became Additional District and Sessions Judge, Civil and Sessions Division, Shimla in June 1997 and District and Sessions Judge (Inspection) on the establishment of the Registry of Himachal Pradesh High Court in December 1999. He was also appointed as District and Sessions Judge. Judge, Civil and Sessions Division, Hamirpur (2001), President, District Consumer Forum, Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti Districts, Mandi (2004), and District and Sessions Judge, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti Civil and Sessions Division, Kullu ( 2006). In December 2006, he assumed the role of Registrar (Rules)-cum-Principal Secretary to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Dharam Chand Chaudhary speaking at Himachal Pradesh National Law University Shimla, Ghandal in 2017
In June 2008, he was re-designated as Registrar (Vigilance)-cum-Principal Secretary to the Hon’ble Chief Justice with charge of the Central Project Coordinator, e-Courts Project of the Supreme Court of India. He also served as the Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Legal Services Committee. From 7 October 2010 to 20 January 2012, he was the Registrar General-cum-Principal Secretary to the Honorable Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. On 21 January 2012, he was elevated to the post of Additional Judge of Himachal Pradesh High Court. On 18 January 2014, he was sworn in as a permanent judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary took charge as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, administered by Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir, in 2014.
From 4 March 2014 to 28 September 2016, he was the Chairman of the Computer Committee of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. He was the Chairman of HP High Court Legal Services Committee, Shimla from 23 August 2014 to 19 November 2018 and the Chairman of Himachal Pradesh Judicial Academy from 25 October 2016 to 20 November 2018. In 2018, he served as the Executive Chairman of HP State Legal. Service Authority. During this period he was also Chairman/Member of various committees constituted by the Hon’ble Chief Justice to transact administrative business. Around June 2019, he was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. He served as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court until 11 March 2020.
Retirement ceremony of Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary in Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2020
On 15 September 2021, he was appointed as Judicial Member of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Delhi, through the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi. On 18 September 2021, he took charge of the post of Judicial Member in the Regional Bench of the Tribunal in Chandigarh. He has also held the charge of Head of the Department of Srinagar Bench of Jammu based AFT. In December 2022, Justice Choudhary, Member (Judicial), took over as the Head of Department of the Chandigarh Regional Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), which deals with all service and criminal cases of personnel of all ranks of the three defense forces. Services covering Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory Chandigarh. During Justice Chaudhary’s tenure at the Chandigarh Bench of the AFT, he has written several landmark judgments relating to military service and criminal cases involving the armed forces. These decisions often emphasize the importance of providing assistance and compassion to disabled soldiers and military widows.
A photograph of Himachal Pradesh High Court judge Dharam Chand Chaudhary administering the oath of office to Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya at the Raj Bhavan in Shimla in 2019
In 2023, Justice Chaudhary passed repeated orders asking the Defense Ministry to implement the 2017 decision to pay the pension of the lowest-ranked JCOs, some Naib Subedars. As a result, Choudhary came into limelight when he was transferred from the Chandigarh bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) to Kolkata. On 26 September 2023, the AFT Chandigarh Bar Association filed a petition to stop the transfer of Justice Choudhary and launched an indefinite strike. The association wrote twice to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, calling the transfer a “direct attack on the independence of judicial functioning” of the AFT. The association alleged that the transfer was a result of strict orders passed by Justice Choudhary against senior government officials in the Defense Ministry. By September 28, the Bar Association of the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal received support from its counterparts in Jammu and Lucknow besides ex-servicemen in its strike against the transfer of Justice Choudhary. On 9 October 2023, the Supreme Court effectively stayed the transfer of Justice Choudhary and directed the tribunal chairman to submit a report in a sealed cover explaining why the transfer was made. The Chairperson pointed out that the AFT Kolkata Bench was short of judicial members and the Chandigarh Bench was the only bench where there was a surplus of judicial members. As a result, the Supreme Court on 13 October 2023 rejected the petition filed by AFT Chandigarh Bar Association, refusing to stay the transfer of Justice Choudhary. However, the Court requested the Central Government to respond regarding the request to remove powers over the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) from the Union Ministry of Defense (MoD).
property and properties
Immovable property
- 1/10 share in ancestral agricultural land of 15-7-8 bighas in Mohal Rinj (Lohara) Tehsil Sadar, District Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, on one part of which a two-storey house has been built.
- Land measuring 451.50 square meters was purchased. Khasra No. 73, Khatauni No. 93, Khasra No. 959, Mohal Kasumpati Koti, Hadabast No. 11, Tehsil and District Shimla (Urban) are included.
movable property
- A gold ring weighing 9.30
Note: The given estimates of movable and immovable assets are as per financial year 2012. This does not include property owned by his wife and dependents.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn