John Michael Cunha Biography 
John Michael D'Cunha is a special court judge in Bangalore, best known for convicting Jayalalithaa, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He took that important and historic conviction on 27 September 2014, while being appointed by Supreme Court as the fifth judge to investigate the case, replacing judge MS Balakrishna. Jayalalithaa was the ruling chief minister of Tamil Nadu while she was convicted for Disproportionate Asset case that took 18 long years for a judgment. She was jailed for 4 years and fined Rs.100 crore. However Karnataka High Court acquitted Jayalalithaa and she resumed office as Chief Minister on May 23, 2015.
D'Cunha was born in Gurpur, Kaikamba. He completed his LLB course from SDM Law College, Mangalore. He was also a volley ball player during his college days. After LLB, he started his law practice in the year 1985 and later formed Manu Associates, with a group of his 3 friends. Manu Associates was coined using the first letter of all the four friends and it was alive till John joined Karnataka High Court in 1999. He joined the judiciary as a District Judge in the year 2002 and has served in the courts of Bangalore, Bellary and Dharwad. He later served many decorative positions like secretary to the Chief Justice and Registrar (Vigilance) of the High Court.
This no-nonsense judge made headlines for the first time when he issued a non-bail warrant against the thenâMadhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti in August 2004. He was serving as Additional Sessions Judge in Hubli when Bharti was given a warrant, following an accusion in connection with her role in the 1994 Hubli riots over hoisting of the national flag at the Idgah Maidan. D’Cunha was appointed fifth judge in October 2013 for conducting the trial of Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Case, which wrote new history.
Published: N/A
Updated: November 16, 2015
