Husband and wife to be judges at Madras High Court

They joined the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service in the same year and got their promotions together. And now, the couple is all set to enter the 128-year-old Madras High Court complex together as judges.

Meet Thamilselvi T Valayapalayam and Murali Shankar Kuppuraju, the judge couple, who are among 10 names that have been cleared for elevation as judges of the Madras High Court.

While Mr. Kuppuraju is currently the Principal District and Sessions Judge in Tiruchirapalli, Ms. Valayapalayam is working as the Registrar (Judicial) of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.

“It is all destiny. What else do I say?” asked a smiling Ms. Valayapalayam on their elevation as Judges of the High Court. Their names were cleared by the Supreme Court collegium on Wednesday and they will be sworn-in as judges once President Ram Nath Kovind issues the warrant of appointment.

Ms. Valayapalayam said that she and her husband Mr. Kuppuraju belong to the same batch of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service in 1995 and got married the next year after falling in love.

“We joined service in the same year and had worked in different capacities in different towns across Tamil Nadu. We were in the same government service and this (the appointment that has come together) in my opinion is just destiny,” she told DH.

While the husband is a native of Coimbatore, the wife hails from Perundurai town in Erode district. Mr. Kuppuraju completed his law degree from the Government Law College in Coimbatore and his wife graduated from neighboring Puducherry.

Reports said that both Mr. Kuppuraju and Mr. Valayapalayam got promoted as sub judge, district judge, and principal district judge at the same time. Madras High Court is one of the oldest courts in the country having been established in 1862 by the then British regime. The current complex was inaugurated on July 12, 1892.