By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 23: Former Judge of the High Court of Meghalaya, Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen, passed away on Tuesday at a hospital in Guwahati following a prolonged illness. He was 68.
Sources from the High Court of Meghalaya confirmed his demise and informed that the last rites were performed in Guwahati.
According to his profile on the Meghalaya High Court website, Justice Sen was born in Shillong on March 9, 1957. He obtained his LL.B. degree from Shillong Law College under the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU). Before entering the legal profession, he began his career as a school teacher after completing his Bachelor of Arts degree.
Justice Sen joined the Bar on March 28, 1989, and practised in both civil and criminal matters. He served as Assistant Public Prosecutor and Additional Government Pleader for Meghalaya from 1997 to July 7, 2000. In the same year, he cleared the Meghalaya Higher Judicial Service Examination and joined as Additional District and Sessions Judge on July 10, 2000.
He was elevated as District and Sessions Judge in January 2002 and was vested with special powers to try cases under the NDPS Act, Prevention of Corruption Act, WAQF Tribunal matters and Land Acquisition cases. He became a Selection Grade District and Sessions Judge in 2005 and was awarded the Super Time Scale in April 2011. He also served as Registrar (Administration) of the Gauhati High Court from December 1, 2010, to February 6, 2012.
Justice Sen was sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Gauhati High Court on February 6, 2012, and later took oath as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Meghalaya on March 23, 2013. He was confirmed as a Permanent Judge of the Meghalaya High Court on January 7, 2014, and demitted office on March 8, 2018.
During his tenure, Justice Sen delivered several significant judgments but was also embroiled in controversies.
In 2018, he sparked widespread debate after observing in a judgment that India should have been declared a “Hindu country” at the time of Partition.
The remarks were made while hearing a petition by an Army recruit who had been denied a domicile certificate by the Meghalaya government.
The controversial judgment was later set aside in May 2019 by a division bench of the Meghalaya High Court comprising then Chief Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew.
The bench observed that the issues addressed in Justice Sen’s judgment were not part of the original writ petition and were inconsistent with the Constitution.
Another contentious order passed by Justice Sen directed the state government to extend medical facilities and certain other benefits, including guest house access and mobile and internet reimbursement, to retired judges and their families.
Justice Sen also delivered notable judgments which sought to strip the powers of the traditional heads. In December 2014, the Meghalaya High Court ruled that village headmen should confine themselves to social development activities and should not interfere with administration or issue certificates unless empowered by law. The judgment allowed villagers who had been ostracised by the Dorbar Shnong in East Jaintia Hills to return to their homes.
In another significant judgment, he had ruled that individuals who entered India on or before March 24, 1971, would not be deported to Bangladesh, while those who entered after the cut-off date would be liable for deportation.
Justice Sen was also part of the full bench of the High Court which had banned the media from publishing statements by organisations that call for shutdowns or rallies in the state, after stating that it results in disruption of normal life.
The order came after former state Director General of Police Rajiv Mehta requested the court to restrain the media from carrying statements by the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) and other organisations calling for shutdowns and other forms of agitations.
On May 2015, a full bench of Chief Justice Uma Nath Singh, Justice T.N.K. Singh and Justice S.R. Sen issued the order, “We direct that the statements of HNLC or any organisation, which may disturb the day-to-day public life and cause violation of the fundamental rights of citizens… shall not be issued by any print and electronic media outlet,” the court directed.
The bench said that violation of the court order would result in charges under the contempt of court, and also directed the state government to register criminal cases for such violations.
The judgment was passed in view of the proscribed HNLC called for a 24-hour shutdown from 6.00 pm on May 26 till 6 pm on May 27, 2015, to protest the delay in passing the Village Administration Bill by the then Congress-led MUA Government.
Justice Sen also filed a contempt case against The Shillong Times for reporting on the post-retirement benefits for judges. However, in a significant judgment on April 2, 2025, the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the High Court’s order of contempt of court with direction of payment of hefty fine and shutdown or ban on ST in case of default. The Supreme Court found no wrongdoing on the part of the newspaper.
