Ratnavel Pandian
Justice S. Rathinavel Pandian was a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was among the nine judges on the Constitution Bench which heard the famous Mandal Commission Case "Indira Sawhney vs Union of India". In that judgment delivered in 1992, the reservation for the backward classes was affirmed.
On August 14, 2006, Justice Pandian took charge as the Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes. He was given the status of a Cabinet Minister during his tenure, until 2009.
Early life and education
Pandian was born on 13 March 1929 in Tirupudaimarudur, a village near Ambasamudram in present-day Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. Rathinavel Pandian completed his schooling at Theerthapathi School, Ambasamudram and his college education at St. Xavier College, Tirunelveli. In 1954, he studied law at the Madras Law College.Political career
Pandian was the District Secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tirunelveli District in the 1960s. When the party president M. Karunanidhi was arrested during the anti-Hindi agitations and was in Palayamkottai Central Prison, Rathinavel Pandian used to visit him every day.Pandian unsuccessfully contested as a DMK candidate in the assembly constituencies of Ambasamudram.
Legal career
As Advocate
In the early days Mr. Ratnavel Pandian, took his apprenticeship with Mr. K. Narayanasamy, Senior Advocate. After Mr. K. Narayanasamy Mudaliar became a Judge of the Madras High Court, Mr. Pandian worked as a Junior Advocate with Mr. Cellapandian and with Mr. Rajagopala Iyer. After 17 years as a lawyer, he was appointed the Attorney General of the Madras High Court in 1971. Vaiko, the future general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, was one of his junior lawyers.As High Court Judge
Mr. Ratnavel Pandian was elevated as a Judge of the Madras High Court in 1974.The statue of Manu Neethi or Samaneethi Cholan was erected by Justice Ratnavel Pandian at the Madras High Court premises.