Two judges will retire from Kerala High Court this month. Justice P S Gopinathan will retire on March 16, while Justice K Hema is stepping down on March 23. A full court reference will be held at the High Court on March 15 in honour of Justice P S Gopinathan. Justice Gopinathan had pronounced the landmark judgment dismissing the plea of the two Italian Marines to quash the FIR filed against them by Kerala Police in the Enrica Lexie shooting incident, which killed two Indian fishermen. Justice Gopinathan, while dismissing the petitions, had noted that the police registered the case in a proper manner and the Italians did not have any special rights or privileges.
Justice Gopinathan was sworn-in as Additional Judge of the High Court of Kerala in June 2009 and appointed a Permanent Judge in December 2011. He had earlier served as Law Secretary to the government since August 2006.After enrolment, Justice Gopinathan started practice in the Kerala High Cour. He joined the judicial service in 1982 and served as Munsiff-Magistrate, Pattambi, Munsiff at Vaikom, Sub Judge, Kasargod, Hosdurg, Kozhikode and Vadakara. In 1992, he was appointed District Judge and served as MACT, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. He also served as Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, Additional District Judge, Kozhikode and Alappuzha; Member Secretary, Kerala State Legal Services Authority; District Judge, Pathanamthitta and Thodupuzha.
A similar full court reference will be held at the High Court on March 22 in honour of Justice K Hema. She enrolled as Advocate in November 1975 and started practice at the courts in Kozhikode. Later she was appointed District and Sessions Judge directly from the Bar in August 1988. She served as an Additional District and Sessions Judge, District and Sessions Judge and State Transport Appellate Tribunal, Family Court at Ernakulam, Wayanad, Idukki, Thrissur and Trivandrum.Hema underwent training in ‘Gender and Law’ at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK in 1999 as nominated by the Chief Justice of India and as recommended by the Chief Justice, of the Kerala High Court. She was sworn in as a permanent Judge in Kerala HC on October 2004.