Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SHP)
New Delhi, Dec 10: Supreme Court Advocate Lily Thomas passed away on December 10 at the age of 91.
Thomas was the senior-most woman lawyer of Supreme Court who filed many important Public Interest Litigations in the SC.
During her time as a lawyer, she challenged Section 494 of Indian Penal Code which criminalized bigamy. Thomas also filed the first petition challenging the Advocate-On-Record system. She was of the view that the court did not have the power to subject the advocates to this exam. In an interview with LiveLaw, Thomas stated that Section 30 which is under Part IV of the Advocates Act allows advocates to practice in all courts across the country, including the Supreme Court, and that no restriction could be imposed in this regard.
Her petition caused the removal of Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act which allowed convicted lawmakers to continue without disqualification during the pendency of appeals that challenged the conviction. It resulted in automatic disqualification of legislators upon conviction for a term of two years or more. Although the government prepared an ordinance to nullify the judgement, Thomas slapped a review petition against the ordinance. Following this government was forced to withdraw the ordinance.
Originating from Kottayam in Kerala, Thomas spent most of her life in Trivandrum. She obtained a law degree from Madras University and in 1955 was working in Madras High Court. In 1959, Thomas completed her masters course in law and became the first lady in India to qualify for an LLM degree. Soon after, she moved to the Supreme Court in 1960.