Kalpana Rawal

Kalpana Hasmukhrai Rawal (born 15 January 1946 in Bhuj, India) is a Kenyan-Asian lawyer and the former Deputy Chief Justice and Vice President of the Supreme Court of Kenya.

Kalpana was born in 1946 in Bhuj (Kutch), India to Umangilal (U.J) and Anuben Bhatt of Gujrat.

When she was born, India was a conservative society and giving birth to daughters was no cause for celebration.

Her parents, however, gave her and her four sisters the best education

and she showed her worth by superseding their expectations and becoming the first female lawyer in Kenya.

In 1973, at the age of 27, Kalpana Hasmukhrai Rawal moved to Kenya from India to join her husband, businessman Hasmukhrai Rawal.

Two years later, she set up her own law firm, becoming the first woman to run a law firm in Kenya - a move that put her in the long path to being appointed the first female judge of Asian origin by then President Daniel Moi.

The remarkable woman from India would serve in the highest court in the land as the deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Her father U.J. Bhatt served as a judge in the Gujarat High Court and her grandfather Jaduram Bhatt who was a law minister.

She was enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya in July, 1975.

She had taught administration and regular police officers at Lower Kabete for a year.

In 1975 she worked as a teacher of both administration and regular police officers at Lower Kabete.

In the same year, she set up a private practice becoming the first woman lawyer to do so in Kenya.

When she started her private practice, K H Rawal Advocates, the offices were located at Imenti House and she worked from there until 1999 when she was appointed Commissioner of Assize.

She run a general practice until 1999 when she was appointed a commissioner of assize, and judge of the High Court thereafter.

In April, 2010, Rawal was appointed the Liaison Judge for Kenya making her a member of the International Hague Network of Judges and the Chief Justice also appointed her to assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take evidence of security officers in respect of the investigation into 2007/2008 Post Election Violence.

Rawal has over 40 years experience in the legal profession and as at May 2011 had served as a judge for 11 years most of which was in Nairobi.

A year later, the mother of two sons was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Kenya, and she consequently stopped working at her law firm which is still operational.

During her tenure, she reformed each of the divisions in which she was appointed – Civil, Criminal, Family, Environmental and Land Law – by reducing severe backlog and improving the expeditious disposal of cases.

In 2011, while still at the High Court, she delivered a judgment against the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, barring it from confiscating assets of Stanley Amuti, former National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation finance boss, to recover Sh140 million.

In the same year, she was among nine applicants interviewed for the position of Chief Justice of Kenya by the Judicial Service Commission but she lost to former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

In May 2011, she was among nine applicants interviewed for the position Chief Justice of Kenya by the Judicial Service Commission (Kenya).

She however lost to the then eventual appointee Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

Justice Rawal led the judicial inquiry into the June 2012 Kenya Police helicopter crash that killed all six people on board including Minister George Saitoti and Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode.

In September 2012, the Kenya Judges and Magistrates Vetting Board in its fourth Determination declared Rawal fit for office.

It had earlier delayed its decision as she was among judges hearing a national interest case to determine on the date of the next Kenyan general elections.

Following the resignation of Nancy Barasa, Rawal applied for the vacant position of Deputy Chief Justice advertised by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on 9 November 2012.

The JSC however re-advertised because it was dissatisfied by the number of applicants.

The position subsequently attracted applications from 17 women and one man.

She was among five shortlisted for the position.

She was sworn in on June 3, 2013 as the Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya in a ceremony presided over by the President of Kenya and the Chief Justice.

After a protracted case on the question of the retirement age of Judges who were appointed under the old Constitution of Kenya, the Supreme Court delivered a Ruling which effectively set the retirement age at 70 years, sending the Deputy Chief Justice and one other Supreme Court Judge who had reached 70 on retirement.

Rawal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, and Bachelors and Master of Laws in constitutional and administrative law.

Opportunity came knocking on February 22, 2013 when the Judicial Service Commission nominated her for the position of Deputy Chief Justice.

During her 40 years as a legal professional, Rawal played a big role and paved the way for many women in the justice system

. Rawal’s pivotal role has not gone unnoticed

and she was awarded the Elder of the Order of Burning Spear (EBS) by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

On 22 February 2013, the JSC announced that after completing the interviews it had nominated Court of Appeal Judge Kalpana Rawal.

She was successfully vetted by Parliament, and then appointed by the President as the Deputy Chief Justice and Vice President of the Supreme Court.

She received her LLB and LLM degrees in India, where she practised for three years under the tutelage of P. N. Bhagwati who later became the 17th Chief Justice of India.