2nd May, 2008 - Justice Anup Singh Choudry was today sworn in as the first Sikh High Court judge in Uganda at the swearing in ceremony that took place at the State House Entebbe before the President of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Museweni and before the Chief Justice of Uganda Bejamin Odoki.
Justice Choudry 58, is a Ugandan born Asian who was a resident of United Kingdom and is believed to be the first non African in the Ugandan judiciary and the only turbaned Sikh judge in East Africa.
Justice Choudry went to schools in Uganda and then went to England for higher education. 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.
His grandfather came to Uganda in the early 1900’s and served in the civil service. His late father also worked in the civil service in Uganda until his retirement shortly before 1972 when Idi Amin, the then president removed all the Asians from the country.
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 and his grandparents migrated to Uganda from Rawalpindi in the early nineteenth century. 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.
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. He eloquently put forward his case for allocation of 2500 acres of land for the University campus and the proposal was successfully approved by the Pakistani authorities.
