Early life and education Verma was born on 28 August 1947, in
Jabalpur,
Madhya Pradesh. His father, R.P. Verma, was an eminent lawyer in Jabalpur. His educational journey began with his schooling at institutions such as Christ Church, Mahakaushal High School, and Model High School, and culminated with his matriculation from Naveen Vidya Bhawan in Jabalpur. Following his matriculation, he initially pursued a
B.Sc degree at
Government Science College, Jabalpur, but subsequently transitioned to the field of Arts, ultimately completing his B.A. from St. Aloysius College in Jabalpur. He earned his
LL.B. degree from
Jabalpur University. His enrollment as an Advocate occurred in the year 1972.
Career Verma practiced as an Advocate in the civil courts until his elevation in 1994. He acted as an Administrative Judge of
Indore until August 2005. Subsequently, he continued his service as the Administrative Judge at the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur. He is known to have disposed of all matters pending before him by holding sittings for the victims even during public holidays. Verma was transferred as a Judge to the
Karnataka High Court in
Bangalore on January 2, 2008. Being the seniormost judge on the bench, he also served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. On March 4, 2009, he was further elevated as
Chief Justice of the
Rajasthan High Court. On May 11, 2009, Verma was appointed as a Judge of the
Supreme Court of India where he continued to serve until his retirement on August 28, 2012. Additionally, he was part of the bench at the Supreme Court that redefined medical negligence to include cases involving overdose of medicines, failure to inform patients about potential side-effects of drugs, lack of extra care in cases with a high mortality rate, and hospitals failing to provide fundamental amenities to patients. Notably, he also presided over the appeal in the high-profile
1999 Delhi hit-and-run case, among other significant cases. He was part of the bench that delivered the landmark judgment for the Indian anti-rape law in 2013. Post-retirement from the Indian judiciary, Verma started acting as an
arbitrator and
mediator in both domestic and international disputes. He has presided around 200 domestic and international arbitrations, rendering awards in complex cases valued at several billion dollars. He has also provided expert opinions before international tribunals and courts worldwide. He was part of the panel alongside Justice Gopala Gawda in the 2020
Vijay Mallya bankruptcy matter. Verma is widely recognized as an expert in matters of Indian law. He has acted as an expert witness in several precedent-setting multijurisdictional disputes before the Federal Courts in the United States, the Senior Courts in England and Wales, the Commission for Control of
INTERPOL Files (CCF), and the
Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague. He has also acted as the inquiry authority and overseen internal investigations for several multinational corporations and banking and financial institutions. Shilled for
Nirav Modi, in an extradition case, claiming he would be subjected to "custodial interrogation" but British courts rejected this and threw the statements into the garbage bin. == Philanthropy ==