P. N. Bhagwati

Prafullachandra Bhagwati
17thChief Justice of India
In office 12 July 1985 – 20 December 1986
Appointed by	Giani Zail Singh
Preceded by	Y. V. Chandrachud
Succeeded by	R. S. Pathak
Governor of Gujarat(acting)
In office 17 March 1973 – 4 April 1973
Preceded by	Shriman Narayan
Succeeded by	K. K. Viswanathan
Chief Justice, Gujarat High Court
In office 16 August 1967 – 17 July 1973
Governor of Gujarat(acting)
In office 7 December 1967 – 26 December 1967
Preceded by	Nityanand Kanungo
Succeeded by	Shriman Narayan
Personal details
Born	Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (1921-12-21)21 December 1921 Ahmedabad,Bombay Presidency,British India
Died	15 June 2017(2017-06-15)(aged 95) New Delhi,India
Spouse	Prabhavati Shethji
Children	3
Parent	Natwarlal H. Bhagwati(father)
Relatives	Jagdish Bhagwati(brother) Padma Desai(sister-in-law) Shardul S. Shroff(son-in-law)
Alma mater	Bombay University,Government Law College, Bombay

Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati(21 December 1921 – 15 June 2017) was the 17thChief Justice of India,serving from 12 July 1985 until his retirement on 20 December 1986. He introduced the concepts ofpublic interest litigationandabsolute liabilityin India, and for this reason is held, along with JusticeV. R. Krishna Iyer,to be a pioneer ofjudicial activismin the country. He is the longest-served supreme court judge (including Chief Justice to tenure) in India.

Early and personal life

P. N. Bhagwati was born inGujarat.His father was JusticeNatwarlal H. Bhagwati,a Supreme Court judge.He was the elder brother of the economistJagdish Bhagwatiand the neurosurgeon/president of theNeurological Society of IndiaS. N. Bhagwati - father of economist Ketki Bhagwati.He was married to Prabhavati (née Shethji) and the couple have three daughters, Parul, Pallavi, and Sonali.Pallavi is currently the managing partner of leading Indian law firmShardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Coand is married toShardul S. Shroff.Bhagwati was a devotee of the popular Indian guruSathya Sai Baba,and was also a member of Sathya Sai Trust till his death.

Bhagwati received his education in Mumbai. He studied atElphinstone College,taking a Mathematics (Hons.) degree fromBombay Universityin 1941. In 1942, he courted arrest during theIndian Independence Movementand went underground for four months. He later received a law degree fromBombay Universityafter studying atGovernment Law College, Bombay.

Career

Bhagwati began his career practicing at theBombay High Court.In July 1960, he was appointed a judge of theGujarat High Court.In September 1967, he was appointed the Chief Justice of that court. On two occasions, he acted temporarily asGovernor of Gujarat(7 December 1967 to 25 December 1967 and 17 March 1973 to 3 April 1973).In July 1973, he was appointed a Judge of theSupreme Court of India.In August 1985, he became Chief Justice of India.

As a supreme court judge, Bhagwati introduced the concepts ofpublic interest litigationandabsolute liabilityto the Indian judicial system. He is therefore held, along with JusticeV. R. Krishna Iyer,to have pioneeredjudicial activismin the country.

Chief Justice Bhagwati had an expansive view of the judicial role, saying in an interview that "I practically rewrote Part III and Part IV of the Constitution. I moulded the law. I still remember those days. It was a thrilling experience."

In 2007 Bhagwati was awarded thePadma Vibhushanin public affairs, India's second highest civilian award.

Judgements

Habeas corpuscase controversy

A controversial judgement of Bhagwati was in theADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shuklacase (popularly referred to as theADM Jabalpur caseor thehabeas corpuscase) where he decreed that duringthe Emergencyof 1975 to 1977, a person's right to not be unlawfully detained (i.e.habeas corpus) can be suspended. This judgement received a lot of criticism since it reduced the importance attached toFundamental Rightsunder theIndian Constitution.Going against the previous decision of High Courts, the bench which included Bhagwati concluded in favour of thethen Indira Gandhi governmentwhile only JusticeHans Raj Khannawas opposed to it. Bhagwati openly praised Indira Gandhi during the Emergency period, later criticized her whenJanata Party-led governmentwas formed, and again backed Gandhi when she got re-elected to formgovernment in 1980.Bhagwati was criticized for these change of stands, favouring the ruling government, which were deemed as to have been taken to better his career prospects.Bhagwati later in 2011 agreed with popular opinion that this judgement was short-sighted and "apologised".

Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India

Maneka Gandhiwas requested, through an official letter from the Regional Passport Officer, Delhi on 2 July 1977 to return her passport within seven days "in public interest" under section 10(3) ofThe Passports Act(1967). Gandhi, who had been issued Indian passport on 1 June 1976, in return asked the office to give a statement of reason in accordance with section 10(5) to which the office replied that "in the interest of general public" the Government had decided to not furnish any such statement further. UnderArticle 21of theIndian Constitution,which deals with Right to Freedom, Gandhi filed a writ petition in which Bhagwati and JusticeV. R. Krishna Iyerruled in favour of Gandhi.

Other activities

In 1982, Bhagwati was elected a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Scienceswhile being affiliated with theColumbia University.He had been a member of theUnited Nations Human Rights Committeefrom 1995 to 2009, being re-elected after every two years on expiry of his term.He was also chairman of the committee in 2001-03.As of 2006,he had also served as a member of the Committee of Experts of theInternational Labour Organizationfor over 27 years.He was appointed Chancellor ofSri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learningon 6 May 2011.

Death

Justice Bhagwati died on 15 June 2017 at the age of 95 after a brief illness at his home inNew Delhi.His funeral was held on 17 June.Prime MinisterNarendra Modicondoled his death, calling him "stalwart of India's legal fraternity".

External links

• P. N. Bhagwati, Brief biographyatSupreme Court of India