K. T. Thomas

Justice K. T. Thomas served on the Supreme Court of India from 1996 to 2002, and has kept working on legal reform ever since. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Vibhushan in the field of public affairs, from Kerala ^[1].

From the Bar to the Bench

Thomas was born on 30 January 1937 ^[2]. He studied at CMS College, Kottayam, and St. Albert’s College, Ernakulam, and took his law degree from Madras University ^[2]. He practised for seventeen years in Kottayam and at the Kerala High Court before being selected directly from the Bar as a district and sessions judge ^[2].

He became a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1985 and its acting Chief Justice in 1995 ^[2]. In March 1996 he was appointed to the Supreme Court, retiring in 2002 ^[2].

Criminal law

Thomas is known for his work in criminal law ^[2]. After he retired, the CBI published a book of his criminal-law judgments, saying they marked a significant shift in Indian criminal jurisprudence ^[2].

Commissions

He chaired Kerala’s committee to fix fees for self-financing professional colleges, which his citation says was the first in India to finish the task, covering 200 colleges ^[2]. He also chaired commissions on police reform in Kerala and on admissions transparency, and worked on national police reform for the Supreme Court, taking no fee for any of this work ^[2]. He headed a commission to improve the National Law School in Bengaluru ^[2].

Since 2017 he has chaired the Kerala Law Reforms Commission ^[2]. He received the Padma Bhushan in 2007 ^[2].