Fifty-six-year-old Jamshed Pardiwala is among the youngest judges to be appointed to the Supreme Court (SC) of India. Number three in the Gujarat High Court (GHC) and 49th in all India seniority, The Times of India noted on May 10, 2022 that Pardiwala superseded 48 judges. The Indian Express (IE) noted that Pardiwala, who is "part of around 1,012 reportable judgments on varied subjects will serve in the SC till his retirement in 2030.” The former GHC judge took his oath of office on May 9, along with Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
Pardiwala is the sixth Parsi judge at the apex court and is "in line to be the third Chief Justice of India from the (Parsi) community,” noted The Hindu on May 8. [Justices Sam Bharucha (2001) and Sarosh Kapadia (2011) have in the past served as Chief Justices in the apex court. Justice Dinshah Madon was the first Parsi to serve on the SC in the 1980s. Justices Sam Variava (2000) and Rohinton Nariman (2015) followed].
Jamshed Pardiwala (top r and above)
with Chief Justice of India N. V. Ramana
Born in August 1965 in Bombay, Pardiwala grew up in Bulsar. An alumnus of St Joseph’s Convent and J. P. Arts College, an unnamed source told IE that "he studied in Gujarati medium throughout college and later gained proficiency in English.” Having studied law in Valsad’s K. M. Law College, Pardiwala got his charter to practice law in November 1988. Two years later, he shifted to the GHC and "began practicing all the branches of law... He became a member of the Gujarat High Court Legal Services Authority and in 2002 he was appointed the standing counsel for the High Court and its subordinate courts.” During this period, "he cleared nearly 1,200 cases that had piled up related to the court’s administrative functions,” according to an unnamed colleague quoted in IE. Elevated as an additional judge of the High Court in February 2011, he was confirmed as a permanent judge in January 2013.
Known for speaking his mind, Pardiwala once had to withdraw his comments pertaining to reservations and corruption following an uproar by 58 members of Parliament who sought impeachment proceedings against him in December 2015 (see "The truth hurts,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, February 7, 2016). They alleged that Pardiwala had, on December 1, 2015, while delivering a judgment on a special criminal application against political activist Hardik Patel, ruled that two things have "destroyed this country… reservation and corruption.” His remarks were later expunged from his order.
Pardiwala descends from a family of jurists. Senior Congress leader Gaurav Pandya told IE that Jamshed’s father Burjor was a Congress member of the Legislative Assembly and served as the speaker of the seventh Gujarat Assembly (1989-1990). Proficient in civil and customs matters, Burjor joined the bar in 1955 and became the president of the Valsad District Bar Association. He was head of the Valsad Anjuman when the resolution to ban entry to the local agiary and doongerwadi to interfaith married Parsi women was passed. Grandfather Cawas joined the Bulsar bar in 1929 and practiced till 1958. Great-grandfather Navroji practised law in Valsad, starting 1894.