Moti Tikaram

Moti Tikaram
Born	Moti Tikaram 1925 (age 85–86) Lami, Fiji
Residence	Suva, Fiji
Nationality	Fijian
Education	L.L.B.
Occupation	retired
Known for	Judge, Ombudsman
Title	Sir
Religion	Hindu
Spouse	(deceased)
Children	Savita, Anil, Sunil

Sir Moti Tikaram, KBE, (born 1925) has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji, the first ombudsman of independent Fiji and a soccer administrator. He was the first local person to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Fiji. He has served on numerous boards and committees and is the patron of several sporting organisations.

Early life

Sir Moti was born in Lami near Suva in Fiji in 1925.He was brought up with six brothers and four sisters and he is the fourth eldest among his siblings. For his primary education, he attended Samabula Government Primary School from classes 1 to 4 and Suva Methodist Primary School from classes 5 to 8. For his secondary education, he attended Marist Brothers High School in Suva. He initially wanted to be a journalist and went to New Zealand and studied the program for two years in Auckland University. He realised that journalism would not be a wise occupation to be in so he started law studies in Wellington.

Legal and judicial career

He returned to Fiji and practised as a lawyer before being the first local to be appointed a Stipendiary Magistrate in 1959. In 1967, he was the first local named as a High Court judge. He was appointed Fiji's first Ombudsman in 1972. At the time of his retirement in 1987, he was the longest serving national ombudsman in the world.^[1] He was a member of the International Commission of Jurists from 1984 to 1989.^[2] After Fiji became a republic in 1987, he was re-appointed as a judge and served for many years as the President of the Fiji Court of Appeal.^[3]

Football administrator

Tikaram was the President of the Fiji Football Association from 1959 to 1960 and is credited with making the Association multi-racial and initiating moves to have its name changed from Fiji Indian Football Association.^[4]

Sir Moti was also a supreme court judge and was appointed acting chief justice of Fiji 20 times but due to racial discrimination was not given the role for life. He was also nominated for Vice president of Fiji by Rambuka and Ratu Mara did agree but was overturned by the Great Cuncil chiefs if Fiji due to racial discrimination.

Later life

Sir Moti is a patron of many national sports bodies, including the Fiji Football Association, Fiji Lawn Tennis Association, Fiji Table Tennis Association and Fiji Chess Federation.

Sir Moti is widower, with three children, Savita, Anil and Sunil.

Awards

• In 1980, he was made a knight commander of the most Order of the British Empire.
• In 2007, he was awarded with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.^[1]
• In 2009, was awarded the "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Award" in New Delhi, India at the Indian Diaspora Celebrations.^[5]

Krishan is Sir Moti's youngest grandson is very good friends with Dame Sian Elias chief justice of New Zealand and is pursuing a career as a lawyer and judge.

References

• "A distinguished path": biography by the Fiji Times, July 16, 2009

1. ^ ^{a b} Karan, Maneesha (14 February 2007). "Sir Moti relives early days". Fiji Times. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=57009. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
2. ^ "International Commission of Jurists". http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=International_Commission_of_Jurists. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
3. ^ "A distinguished path". http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=125490. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
4. ^ "How it started". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927005733/http://www.fijilive.com/soccer/show/home/how_it_started.shtml. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
5. ^ "Sir Moti honoured in India". http://www.fijilive.com/news_new/index.php/news/show_news/13176. Retrieved 2009-01-31. 

Persondata
Name	Tikaram, Moti
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1925
Place of birth	Lami, Fiji
Date of death
Place of death