Who are the four whistleblower judges of the SC?

Justice J Chelameswar

Born in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on July 23, Justice J. Chelameswar has done his graduation in Physics from Loyola college, Chennai. After his graduation, Chelameswar studied Law in Andhra University. On October 13, 1995, he was appointed additional advocate general in Andhra Pradesh High Court. After a brief stint as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, he was appointed judge in Supreme Court of India in 2011.

Justice J Chelameswar is known for his historic judgement on Aadhaar in which he ratified an earlier order of the Supreme Court and clarified that no Indian citizen without an Aadhaar card can be deprived of basic services and government subsidies. Justice Chelameswar hit the headline for criticising the collegium system of appointing judges, which he said has become “a euphemism for nepotism” where “mediocrity or even less” is promoted and a “constitutional disorder” does not look distant.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi

Born on November 14, 1954, Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the first from the Northeast to become a judge in Supreme Court. He started his career as a lawyer at Gauhati High Court in 70s. He was appointed judge at Gauhati High Court in 2001. On September 9, 2010 he was transferred to Punjab-Haryana High Court. He was appointed judge at the Supreme court on April 23, 2012. He is one of the senior most judges of the apex court, considered one of the top contenders to become the next CJI of India.

Justice Madan B. Lokur

A graduate from prestigious St. Stephen's College in History, Justice Madan B. Lokur was born in Delhi. He received his education from Modern School. He completed his LLB from Delhi University in 1978. Justice Lokur started his career as a lawyer, first in Delhi High Court then in Supreme Court.

In 1981, he was appointed Advocate on record in Supreme Court.

Lokur is considered an authority on civil-criminal and Constitutional law. He served as the editor of the Indian Law Review (Delhi) till he became judge in Delhi High Court. Known for raising his voice in support of judicial reforms, he was appointed senior lawyer in Supreme Court in in 1997. Two years later in 1999, he was appointed judge at Delhi High Court. he also worked as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court. In June 2012, he was appointed judge in Supreme Court. He also served in the E-committee of the Supreme Court.

Justice Kurien Joseph

A law graduate from Law Academy, Thiruvananthapuram, Justice Kurien Joseph became a member of the academic council of Kerala University in 1977-78.

Justice Joseph started his career as a lawyer in 1979. Ten years later in 1987, he was appointed government lawyer.

He was appointed judge at Kerla High Court in 2000. From 2006 to 2008, he worked as the president of Kerala Judicial Academy. He was twice appointed Chief justice of Kerala High Court. Justice Kurien Joseph held the position of the chief justice of Himachal High Court for three years. In March 2013, he was appointed judge in the Supreme Court. He will retire on November 28, 2018.