Chennai: Justice V.Ramasubramanian of Tamil Nadu will be swearing in as a Judge of the Supreme Court on September 23. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi will administer the oath of office to him at the First Court hall of the Supreme Court.
Justice Ramasubramanian was elevated as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court on June 19, 2019. He now got elevated to the Apex Court in quick time considering his huge efficiency and much-repeated humane handling of sensitive cases.
Born on June 30, 1958, Justice Ramasubramanian, who is hailing from Mannargudi, did his schooling in Hindu High School at Triplicane. He completed his degree in Vivekananda College and did his law in Madras law college. He enrolled as an advocate on February 16, 1983. He was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Judicature of Madras on July 31, 2006. He was transferred on his own request to Hyderabad High Court on April 27, 2016.
Justice Ramasubramanian delivered several landmark judgments. To quote a few : 1) The decision rendered in Consim Info (p) Ltd Vs Google, was hailed as the first decision in India on the question of infringement of trademark by an internet search engine through its adword policy. This decision was hailed by IPR experts as an encyclopedia on the legal issues involved. 2) The decision in Rajshree Sugars Vs Axis Bank, was the first decision in India on the question of validity of the contract of derivatives (which multinational banks came up with, after the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US in 2008). 3) In Colgate Palmolive Vs Anchor Tooth Paste, the ratio that companies selling consumer products are entitled to indulge in puffery without denigrating the products of others, which principle held the field for over 150 years, was completely overturned by him. For the first time, this decision pointed out that consumer interest is of paramount importance and hence companies are responsible for any misleading advertisements. 4) In Vandana Vs Srikkanth, the definition of “shares household” was expanded for the first time (despite the Supreme Court taking a narrow view in Batra Vs Batra) and this decision was hailed by all women’s organizations.
Justice Ramasubramanian has immense contribution to Tamil language. He has authored a book in Tamil on the principles of law and justice in Kamba Ramayana (Kambanil Sattamum Neethiyum). He wrote a series of articles under the caption “Beyond science” (Ariviyalukku Appaal) in a Tamil newspaper for 27 weeks. He also added new vocabulary to the language of Tamil by running a column in a Tamil newspaper under the caption “Sol Vettai” for 50 weeks on the same lines as Barbara Walraff ran a column for Atlantic Times under the caption “Word Court and Word Fugitives.” Many readers of the newspaper got involved in this exercise and one of them was actually serving a life sentence in Puzhal Prison. As a mark of recognition of the involvement of a life convict in this exercise, the judge got the life convict out on parole for the Book release function and made the life convict sit on the dais with him and receive the first copy of the book.
The computerization of the Madras high court and the Subordinate courts in Tamil Nadu gained momentum under his leadership. The selection of judges to the subordinate judiciary in Tamil Nadu was entrusted to him three times from the year 2012.
