Anup Singh Choudry
| The Hon. Mr. Justice (retd.) Anup Singh Choudry | |
|---|---|
 Retired Justice Anup Singh Choudry in 2015 | |
| Retired High Court Judge of Uganda | |
|
In office 2008–2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Justice Anup Singh Choudry 13 August 1949 Masaka, Uganda |
| Spouse(s) | Ravinder Kaur (1984–present) |
| Children |
Satbir Kuljeet Judge-Maan |
| Alma mater |
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Chelsea / King's College London |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Website | sikhcentenary.com |
Anup Singh Choudry (born 1 August 1949)[1] is a Sikh writer formerly based in the United Kingdom who was also a justice of the High Court of Uganda (Retired). He was sworn in at a 2 May 2008 ceremony at the State House in Entebbe before President Yoweri Museveni and Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki.[2] On 5 March 2008, Choudry was approved to become a High Court Judge[3] and the first Sikh and Asian born Uganda appointed to the bench in that country.[4]
He has written several books, notably Sikh Pilgrimage to Pakistan.
Biography
Anup Singh Choudry is an Ugandan-born Sikh of Punjabi ancestry. His grandfather Hari Singh had migrated from Rawalpindi to Uganda in the early 1900s serving in the then Crown Colony's civil service system. His late father Tarlok Singh had also served in Uganda's civil service, retiring shortly before 1972 when Idi Amin seized the properties and businesses of all the country's Asians and European citizens and forced around 30,000 Asians holding British passports to flee to Britain.
After being schooled in Uganda he travelled to England to study at the University of London and the University of Cambridge. Having qualified as a solicitor, he practised law in England for 20 years until 2000 after which he practised as an auditor in quality control.
Return to Uganda
Anup Singh Choudry has come full circle now by returning to Uganda and its civil service. In 2004 he was nominated for appointment as a Judge of the Uganda High Court by Uganda’s Judicial Service Commission, being approved by the Ugandan parliament.
On respect
Anup Singh Choudry said the following in a BBC interview:
"In any decent society or civilised society we all have the same values as human beings and our values have a base in our spiritual values. At the moment society is looking to its social fabric to give it values and forgetting the spiritual base. And that is where we are losing respect as we would define it in the previous generations."
"In my generation I was taught to respect elders, neighbours, the authorities and teachers. The moment that discipline breaks down what happens is a loss of respect for teachers, for your parents, your religion and the law."
Justice Choudry said he was delighted to be appointed to the bench and added that he would serve Uganda with the same vigour, diligence and dedication as had his late father Tarlok Singh and late grandfather Hari Singh.
The new Justice was one of the delegates at the meeting in Lahore last year in connection with the setting up of Baba Nanak University at Nanakana Sahib in Pakistan where he eloquently put forward his case for allocation of 2500 acres of land for the university campus in a proposal that was successfully approved by the Pakistani authorities.
Publications
- Sikh Pilgrimage to Pakistan
- Flight to Freedom
- Lawyers Office Directory A-Z Ed. Anup Singh Choudry, the first A-Z legal directory in the UK (1989) ISBN 0-9513894-0-8]
- Human Rights of Women in Sikhism
References
- ↑ "Justice Choudry retires", Daily Monitor, 11 August 2014, reported by Anthony Wesaka, accessed 18 February 2016
- ↑ Uganda's first Sikh High Court Judge sworn in.
- ↑ Some new judges are cadres - MPs Archived March 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "UK lawyer among new judges" Archived March 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine., 4 March 2008.