Justice V.DHANAPALAN, B.Sc., M.L., was born on June 1, 1953 at Seithur Village at Mayiladuthurai Taluk of the erstwhile Thanjavur District and presently Nagapattinam District. He did his schooling initially in the native village and later in L.M.C. School at Sirkali and graduation in B.Sc. Chemistry at A.V.C. College, Mayiladuthurai. He also did his B.L. in Madras Law College (now known as Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College) and M.L. in International Law and Constitutional Law in the Department of Legal Studies, University of Madras. He got enrolled as an Advocate on December 7, 1983.

      He practised in the High Court of Judicature at Madras and Central and State Administrative Tribunals. He mainly dealt with Writ, Civil and Appellate Side matters in all branches of law. He is specialised in Constitutional and Service matters and has also appeared in several cases before the Supreme Court of India. He was a part-time Professor in Constitutional and International Law at Madras Law College/Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College for 16 years till his appointment as a Judge of the Madras High Court. He attended several National and International Seminars and Conferences. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Madras on December 10, 2005, and made a permanent Judge on April 20, 2007.

      After elevation, he has delivered several landmark judgments in various matters pertaining to Fundamental Rights, Basic Structure and Constitutional Questions, involving Articles 14, 15, 16, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(g),21 and 22 of the Constitution of India; Education matters such as, Engineering, Medical and Law, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and Medical Council of India (MCI)/ Dental Council of India (DCI) cases. He has also delivered an important judgment on the power of judicial review of the High Courts in matters of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He has also rendered various judgments on Service Law jurisprudence, cases relating to Intellectual Property Rights and Company Law matters, including a remarkable judgment in a significant Election matter, which involved the question of law as to whether an applicant could be substituted in the place of the Election Petitioner.

      Being a Judge of academic background, he has served as a Member in the Board of Governors in the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy and delivered several lectures on Workshop Programmes and Seminars. He was also a Member of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre for several years. He is a Resource Person to National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, and now holding the position of Member of the Executive Council (Syndicate Member) of the Tamil Nadu National Law School, Srirangam, Trichy. He has written many Articles and delivered special Lectures on various subjects of Constitutional Law.