Anup Singh Is First Sikh Judge In Uganda

[lovekhalistan]

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.