[11][12][13] His grandfather, Kailash Nath Katju, was one of India's leading lawyers and participated in the country's freedom movement.

[citation needed] He was awarded an Honoris Causa by a Doctor of Philosophy from Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit University, New Delhi, for his book Mimansa Rules of Interpretation.

[60][61] On several occasions, Katju has said in articles and lectures that he does not recognize Pakistan as a legitimate country, as the whole basis is the two nation theory and he does not accept this.

[64] Katju justified his stance in a leading Pakistani newspaper The Nation, where he reiterated that the only solution to the ongoing dispute is the reunification of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh under a strong, secular, modern-minded government.

[65] Katju's contribution to the release of fishermen arrested along the coastal areas on the border of India has earned him praise from human rights groups of Pakistan.

[66][67][68] On 20 July 2014, Justice Katju sparked off a new controversy when on his blog, he alleged that in the year 2004, a corrupt judge was given an extension and later a permanent post due to strong political backing.

[citation needed] He wrote that he himself raised concern about the conduct of this judge and after due probe from CJI, and his doubt was found to be true.

After this, his position was that gay relationships should not be held to be a criminal offence, and this provision in the Indian penal code should be swiftly annulled.

"[44] The noted jurist Fali Nariman commented that Katju is a person who doesn't merely pretend to support human rights but lives it every moment of his life.

[74][75] The former editor of The Times of India, Dilip Padgaonkar, has said that Katju is "an individual whose reputation for uprightness has been consistently above board.

"[76] In March 2015, in his blog, Katju called Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore as British and Japanese agents respectively.

"[78] In 2020 he was criticized when screenshots of an exchange he had with a woman on Facebook went viral when he told her that "good girls go to sleep early.