Justice Dharmadhikari, Who Heard 'Kerala Story 2' Case, Gets A Promotion

Kerala High Court judge Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari, who heard the 'Kerala Story 2' case on Thursday, has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

The appointment will take place from March 6 - a day after the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava on March 5.

Justice Dharmadhikari was part of a division bench that considered an appeal against the interim order of a judge who put on hold the release of 'The Kerala Story 2 - Goes Beyond' film for 15 days.

A bench of Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and PV Balakrishnan reserved its decision following a late-evening hearing of nearly two hours on Thursday.

After hearing arguments on behalf of the film's producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who moved the appeal against the single judge's interim order, the bench observed that the pleas opposing the film's certification were in the nature of a public interest litigation (PIL) and questioned how the single judge could hear it.

The bench, however, did not pass any interim order in the court at the conclusion of the hearing, as sought by the producer.

The single judge, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, stayed the release of the film, saying that prima facie there was a manifest non-application of mind to the requirement of law by the censor board, CBFC.

He also said that "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.

Who Is Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari

Justice Dharmadhikari was born to Arvind H Dharmadhikari and Shubha Dharmadhikari on July 8, 1966, at Raipur.

He has a bachelor's degree in commerce and law from Nagpur University.

He was first enrolled as an advocate in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur in 1992.

He has also represented the Income Tax Department and the Reserve Bank of India.

Justice Dharmadhikari was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh in April 2016 and as a permanent judge in March 2018. 

He took an oath as a judge in the Kerala High Court in April last year.