PATNA: Justice Rakesh Kumar, 59, of the Patna High Court who took suo moto cognizance of a vigilance case against an IAS officer to pass observations on corruption in bureaucracy is the third seniormost judge in the court’s hierarchy and a well-known practitioner of law since March 8, 1983.
An acclaimed criminal and constitutional lawyer prior to his elevation as a judge, Justice Kumar has defended the cases of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the capacity of standing counsel for 12 years.
Earlier, he was a government advocate in Patna High Court and had also been a special public prosecutor in the state vigilance and conducted trials for the CBI and the state.
He was also additional standing counsel for the Government of India and advocate for accountant general and BSNL, besides being a panel advocate of Patna HC.
Justice Kumar, on the basis of his profound legal experiences, was appointed as an additional judge of the Patna High Court on December 25 in 2009 and took oath as a permanent judge on October 24, 2011.
He will superannuate on December 31, 2020.
It was Justice Kumar who had turned down the anticipatory bail plea of the IAS officer, an accused of a corruption case, who later got bail from a district court.