Pallavi Shroff Pays Homage To Father And Former CJI P.N. Bhagwati

Compassionate, empathetic and a trailblazer for judicial activism, that's how distinguished jurist P.N. Bhagwati is remembered by the legal community across the world. Seven years have passed since Justice Bhagwati’s demise but his contribution to  legal jurisprudence lives on as family members and the legal fraternity at large reverberate in reverence about the unparalleled legacy he has left behind. 

Remembering her father on his death anniversary, veteran lawyer Ms Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas took to Instagram to pay her homage in a heartwarming post.

“Dearest Pappa, you left us 7 years ago, but there has not been a day when we haven't thought of you or missed you. I know you are with your Divine Lord and are happy and you watch over us every day, all the time. But we miss you so much Pappa. Love you!”, she wrote.

For Pallavi, her father was her ultimate role model on living a life with humility and compassion irrespective of one’s position in society.

“I try to implement his philosophy. His extreme hard work, quiet and equanimity in the most difficult situations is simply awe inspiring”, she had said in a previous interaction with BW Legal World.

Concurring with Ms Shroff’s sentiment, Dr Shardul Shroff, Executive Chairman, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas said,

“This was a giant of a Human Being. I came to know him in 1978 when he connected with my parents. What has stayed with me in all these years was his humility, even handedness whether he was talking to a Raja or a Rank, his temperament of never losing his temper on anyone and his sheer brilliance and grasp over complex fact and law situations. I did not see him lose his temper even once, even on a servant and he reminded me of a soul who was an embodiment of Narsinh Mehta's hymn Vaishnav Jana to.”

“I was blessed to have seen and lived proximately with such a noble soul for 37 years or nearly. And since the 7 years since he departed from this world just reflecting on him and his deed, shows us, his survivors, of how blessed he was and how blessed we were to be near him and have him in our lives,” he added in remembrance of his celebrated father in law.

Justice Bhagwati served as the 17th Chief Justice of India. The Padma Vibhushan awardee had the longest tenure as a Supreme Court Judge between 1973-86. In 1985, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of India and held office for 18 months.

The fact that India’s social and political construct was also going through a metamorphosis during his stint made his tenure even more special (read emergency and political volatility)

Bhagwati is credited for introducing and expanding the concept of Public Interest Litigation during his tenure. The pioneering move proved to be a boon for improving access to justice for the marginalized section of the society. 

“It is a travesty of justice that many poor accused, little Indians, are forced into long cellular servitude for little offences because the bail procedure is beyond their meagre means and trials don't commence and even if they do, they never conclude, remarked Justice Bhagwati in Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar.

While deciding on the issue of transfer of judges in SP Gupta V President of India and Ors, Justice Bhagwati articulated the flexibility afforded to the public at large through a PIL. 

“The court has to innovate new methods and strategies to provide access to justice to large masses of people who are denied basic human rights, to whom freedom and liberty have no meaning, "he said. 

“The Court shall not insist that writ petitions be filed, by persons raising causes in the public interest and would readily respond to letters addressed to them by such individuals," he added.

He is highly regarded for bringing visionary constitutional reform through his interpretation of  constitutional law. A prime example of his pragmatic approach to this effect was his expansive reading of the phrase “Personal Liberty” under Article 21 in the Maneka Gandhi v Union of India.

As Justice Krishna Iyer, Former Supreme Court Judge, had once rightly said, "P.N. Bhagwati's legacy is one of compassion and judicial activism. He believed that the law should be a tool for social change, and his judgments reflected his commitment to the underprivileged and the oppressed."