R. Mahadevan

Early life and education 

Justice R. Mahadevan was born on 10 June 1963 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His father Maa. Aranganathan was a Tamil writer and a government employee in Tamil Nadu’s health department. He ran a self funded magazine called “Mundril” and has  written seven novels and 200 short stories. Justice Mahadevan now runs a trust in his father’s memory. 

Justice Mahadevan completed his legal studies from Madras Law College, Chennai and enrolled in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 1989. 

Career as a lawyer 

Justice Mahadevan began his practice at the Madras High Court. In a career spanning over 20 years, Justice Mahadevan specialised in indirect taxes, customs, and central excise matters. He also dealt with civil, criminal, and writ matters. He built a rich practice in  civil, criminal, and writ matters.Beyond his private practice, Justice Mahadevan appeared for the government as well. He served as an Additional Government Pleader (Taxes) for the Tamil Nadu government, an Additional Standing Counsel for the Union government, and a Senior Panel Counsel for the Union government at the Madras High Court. It is said that he conducted more than 9,000 cases before he began his career as a judge.

Career as a judge

On 25 October 2013, Justice Mahadevan was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court. A year and a half later, he became a permanent judge of the High Court on 14 April 2015.

On 24 May 2024, following Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala’s retirement, Justice Mahadevan was appointed  as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. He retained this position until the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his elevation to the Supreme Court on 11 July 2024. 

Typically, the Collegium takes into account the seniority of judges from a High Court while making recommendations. However, the Collegium bypassed this rule in Justice Mahadevan’s case to ensure representation of a backward community from Tamil Nadu. “His appointment will bring diversity to the Bench,” the resolution stated.

Notably, Justice Mahadevan is the first Chief Justice of the Madras High Court to be elevated to the top court in six years. From 2008 to 2018, all sitting Chief Justices of the Madras High Court were elevated to the Supreme Court. This trend stopped in 2019 when Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani resigned from her post to protest against her transfer to the Meghalaya High Court.  

On 16 July 2024, the Department of Justice notified his appointment. He will assume office on 18 July 2024. This is the first time Justice Mahadevan will serve at the bench outside of the state of Tamil Nadu.