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His Honour Sir Mota Singh QC visited legal solicitors Duncan Lewis’ Harrow office on the 12th of November.

His Honour Sir Mota Singh QC was the first Sikh QC and is regarded as a highly regarded and pioneering figure for ethnic minorities within the legal profession.

His Honour Sir Mota Singh QC was educated in Kenya and England and called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1956 and practised in Kenya as an advocate of the Supreme Court, as well as being elected as an Alderman of the City of Nairobi and a member of the Kenya Parliament.

Upon returning to England in 1965 and, after a period as Assistant Legal Advisor to a group of British Companies, his Honour Sir Mota Singh QC went into Chambers in 1967 to practise at the Bar, and was appointed a member of the Race Relations Board by the Home Office shortly after; a post that he held for the next 12 years.

Within 11 years of coming to the Bar, his Honour Sir Mota Singh QC was appointed a Deputy Judge, Queens Counsel, a Recorder of the Crown Courts and a Circuit Judge; this being the first appointment of this position to a member of a minority ethnic group.

His Honour Sir Mota Singh QC's retirement twenty years later was marked by the Lord Chief Justice of England, who acknowledged “his unique services to the administration of law in (our) country”.

Since his retirement from the bench, his Honour Sir Mota Singh QC has served as Chairman of the Disciplinary Committees of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; and then judicial member of the Parole Board upon leaving the previous office.

His Honour Sir Mota Singh QC is the holder of positions of Chairman, Patron, Trustee and Member of a number of charitable institutions, and has lectured at a number of national and international seminars on pluralism, multiculturalism in society, religion and interfaith relations.

His Honour Sir Mota Singh QC has been the recipient of a number of lifetime achievement awards; in the New Year honours list 2010 his honour was knighted for his services to the administration of justice, community relations and the voluntary sector, and is the first member of the Sikh faith to have been so honoured.

Shany Gupta CEO of legal solicitors Duncan Lewis stated;

“We were privileged to be joined by his Honour, Sir Mota Singh QC, the first Sikh QC and Judge who paved the way for many other ethnic minority lawyers in the Legal profession. His achievement is a remarkable story for a lawyer who qualified in Kenya and came to the United Kingdom in 1963.

In the legal profession increasing emphasis is now being placed on a company’s Equality and Diversity makeup and here at Duncan Lewis we are proud to have one of the most ethnically diverse law firms in the United Kingdom with over 70 nationalities represented in the Company.”