A mind of her own: Meet SC judge who rejected Chidambaram's bail plea

As a judge in of the Madras High Court, Justice Banumathi had in 2003 ordered a blanket ban on jallikattu, the bull taming sport of Tamilnadu

Supreme Court Justice  R Banumathi does not court the limelight. But right from her days in the lower courts to some recent actions in the apex court, she has unwittingly attracted the headlines. Her recent decision cancelling the anticipatory bail plea moved by former finance minister P Chidambaram is one of them. The other is her recent letter to Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi criticising the elevation of a judge to the Supreme Court after superseding more senior candidates.  

So who is Justice Banumathi? For nearly 42 months starting October 2014, Justice R Banumathi remained the lone woman judge in the