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Last edited April 24, 2026


Appajee Varadarajan
Office Judge of Supreme Court of India
Office Judge of Madras High Court




Term start 10 December 1980
Term end 16 August 1985







Born 1920-08-17
Born Tirupattur, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tirupattur district, Tamil Nadu, India)
Died Template:Death date
Place of death Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.









Justice A.Varadarajan (1920-2009) was a judge of Supreme Court of India.

Early life

A. Varadarajan was born into a Scheduled Caste family at Jolarpettai, Vellore district, Madras Presidency. He was inspired by Iyothee Thass, a pioneer in Dalit activism, during his youth days. He did his matriculation from Municipal High School at Tirupattur, intermediate from Voorhees College, (Vellore), B.A. from Loyola College (Madras) and LLB from Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College (Madras).[1]

Career

In 1944 he was enrolled as a lawyer and practised in civil and criminal matters on the original and appellate sides. Later he got promoted as Sub-Judge, District and Sessions Judge, Additional Judge and Permanent Judge in 1974.[2]

In 1980 he was nominated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India, being the first Dalit to reach such position.[3][4]

Varadarajan retired in 1985 and joined Prakash Ambedkar in his efforts for implementing reservations and seeking actions against violence on Dalits.Template:Citation needed

References

  1. The first Dalit SC judge: Tale of a forgotten luminary, Vignessh. The Federal(2020-08-18). Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  2. Supreme Court of India – Former Judges. 164.100.107.37. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  3. Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court of India: Transparency, Accountability, and Independence{{#if:Sengupta|, Sengupta}. Oxford University Press(2017-03-21). ISBN 978-0-19-909662-6
  4. Caste and Judiciary: Looking for Dalit and Adivasi Judges in Supreme Court of India. Round Table India.