Know Thy Judge | Supreme Court of India: Exploring Justice Manoj Misra’s Career and Important Judgments

Know Thy Judge: Justice Manoj Misra

Justice Manoj Misra was born on 2 June 1965 and obtained his law degree from the University of Allahabad in 1988. He enrolled with the Bar Council on 12 December 1988 and practised before the Allahabad High Court in civil, revenue, criminal and constitutional matters. After 23 years of practice, he was appointed an Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court on 21 November 2011, and became a Permanent Judge there on 6 August 2013. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on 6 February 2023 and is due to retire on 1 June 2030. Since his elevation, he has been part of more than 500 decisions, including over 40 Constitution Bench or larger bench matters, and has authored more than 70 judgments.

Key Rulings and Their Import

In S. Balagopal (Dr) v. State of T.N., a bench of Justices Misra and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha quashed proceedings against a surgeon accused of unauthorised surgical intervention on a minor. The Court found valid consent had been obtained and that orchidectomy, performed instead of orchidopexy for an undescended testicle, was medically justified. It held that merely interpolating an alternative procedure in a consent form, absent malice, does not amount to a criminal offence, and continuing prosecution would abuse the process of law.

In Sivakumar v. State, arising from a fatal boundary dispute among close relatives, the same bench partly allowed appeals and examined offences under Sections 294(b), 304 Part II and Section 34 IPC. It held that abusive language during a heated altercation does not amount to obscenity under Section 294(b) and set aside that conviction.

In Sant Rohidas Leather Industries & Charmakar Development Corpn. Ltd. v. Vijaya Bank, a bench of Justices Narasimha and Misra upheld the NCDRC's dismissal of a consumer complaint, though it disagreed with the Commission's reasoning on commercial purpose. It held the dismissal was justified because the dispute involved serious fraud allegations and d…