K.G. Balakrishnan

Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan
Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, during an official visit to Brasília in 2008
37th Chief Justice of India
In office 14 January 2007 – 12 May 2010
Appointed by	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Preceded by	Y. K. Sabharwal
Succeeded by	Sarosh Homi Kapadia
Chairman National Human Rights Commission
In office 7 June 2010 – 11 May 2015
Personal details
Born	12 May 1945 Kaduthuruthy, Kottayam, Kerala
Spouse(s)	Nirmala Balakrishnan
Alma mater	Government Law College, Ernakulam

Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan (K. G. Balakrishnan) (b. 12 May 1945) was the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India. He is a former Chief Justice of India.

He was the first judge from the state of Kerala to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was also the first person of Dalit origin to ascend to the post of the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court of India. His tenure lasting more than three years has been one of the longest in the Supreme Court of India.

Justice K. G. Balakrishnan was born at Kaduthuruthy, near Vaikom, Kingdom of Travancore. According to Balakrishnan, "Though my father was only a matriculate and my mother had her schooling only up to the seventh standard, they wanted to give their children the best education." His father was a clerk in the Vaikom munsiff court and was a classmate of K. R. Narayanan who hailed from Uzhavoor, a village near Vaikom.

After completing his primary education in Thalayolaparambu, he finished school at the Government High School, Vaikom for which he had to walk 5 km every day. Subsequently, he joined the Maharaja's College at Ernakulam, where he studied for his B.Sc. He took his Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree from the Government Law College, Ernakulam, and enrolled as an advocate in the Kerala Bar Council in 1968, beginning practice at the Munsiff's court, Vaikom. He then completed his L.L.M. in 1971.

As an advocate he pleaded both criminal and civil cases in the Ernakulam court. He was later appointed as a Munsiff in the Kerala Judicial Services in 1973. He later resigned from the services and resumed practice as an advocate in the Kerala High Court. In 1985, he was appointed as a judge of the Kerala High Court, and was transferred to the Gujarat High Court in 1997. He became the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court in 1998, and in 1999, he assumed charge as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Madras. While being Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, he also discharged duties of Governor of Gujarat for about two months and also as the Member of the General Council of the Gujarat National Law University.