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Anup Singh is first Sikh judge in
Uganda
WSN Network
NAIROBI:
In yet
another development that will make the community proud, particularly
in far off Africa, Justice Anup Singh Choudry was sworn as the first
Sikh Judge of the High Court in Canada on 2nd May at a simple but
impressive ceremony at the State House Entebbe, taking his oath
before the President of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Museweni and
the Chief Justice of Uganda Bejamin Odoki.
58 year old
Justice Choudry is a Uganda born Sikh, who migrated to war-torn
Uganda
from
United Kingdom and is widely believed to be the first non-African in
the Ugandan judiciary and the only turbaned Sikh judge in East
Africa. Though his appointment process had begun long time back, he
underwent a series of misgivings including the wearing of the turban
instead of the traditional judges headgear.
Justice Choudry
had his preliminary education in Uganda and higher education in
England. He studied at the University of London and the University
of Cambridge. After qualifying as an English lawyer he practiced law
in England for 20 years until 2000 and then practiced as an auditor
in quality control. In 2004 he was nominated for appointment as a
Judge of the Uganda High Court by thy Uganda's Judicial Service
Commission and approved by the parliament last month.
The Choudrys are
an illustrious family and the grand father of Anup Singh also served
in the Ugandan civil service. Before the erstwhile dictator Idi Amin
threw out all Asians from Uganda, his father too had served in the
country's civil service.
Like most
expatriates, the grandparents of Justice Choudry had migrated from
Rawalpindi to Uganda.. Justice Choudry is married with 3 children
who were all born in England. Justice Choudry's mother, Mrs Narinder
Kaur was also born in Uganda 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 his late father
Tarlok Singh and late grandfather Hari Singh who also served this
country.
A multi-faceted
personality, Justice Choudry 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. His presentation was
instrumental in the Pakistani authorities allotting the 2500 acres
of land required for the University campus.
7
May,
2008
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