Know Your Justice: ex-CJI Justice P.N. Bhagwati Rahul Agarwal KNOW YOUR JUSTICE Sun, Jun 23, 2019, at ,03:14 PM JUSTICE P.N. BHAGWATI The Pioneer of Judicial System of India, Justice P.N. Bhagwati was born on 21st December 1921 in Gujarat. He received his education in Mumbai. He studied from Eliphinstone College and did Mathematics (Hons) from Bombay University. During Indian Independence Movement he was arrested because of which he had to hide himself for four months. Later he received a law degree from Bombay University after studying at Government Law College, Bombay. Career He began his career by practicing at Bombay High Court and after some years of practice he became Judge of Gujarat High Court and soon Chief Justice of that court. Temporarily he also acted as governor of Gujarat on two occasions. In 1973 he became Judge in Supreme Court of India and finally Chief Justice of Supreme Court India in 1985 till his retirement in 1986 he heard many landmark cases and delivered important judgements like that in the case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India. Important Judgements Maneka Gandhi v. Union Of India Gandhi had challenged the Indian government after it did not issue her a passport. Bhagwati had then ruled that a person’s movements cannot be restricted and that she had full right to hold a passport. In the judgment he said life means not only physical existence. It means the use of every limb or faculty through which life is enjoyed. The right to life includes the right to a healthy environment. S.P. Gupta v. Union Of India In the judgment he said 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. Concept of PIL In the landmark judgment Bhagwati along with V.R. Iyer said if we want human rights to become meaningful for the large masses of people in the country, this is the only way in which it can be done. Government alone will never be able to do it. It is only the people themselves who must utilize law for the purpose of bringing justice at the doorsteps of the large masses of people of the country. Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab In the judgment he said criminals do not die at the hands of the law. They die at the hands of other men. Assassination on the scaffold is the worst form of assassination since there it is invested with the approval of the society. Habeas corpus case controversy A controversial judgment of Bhagwati was in the ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla case where he decreed that during the Emergency of 1975 to 1977, a person's right to not be unlawfully detained can be suspended. This judgment received a lot of criticism since it reduced the importance attached to Fundamental Rights under the Indian Constitution. Going against the previous decision of High Courts, the bench which included Bhagwati concluded in favour of the then Indira Gandhi government while only Justice Hans Raj Khanna was opposed to it. Bhagwati openly praised Indira Gandhi during the Emergency period, later criticized her when Janata Party-led government was formed and again backed Gandhi when she got re-elected to form government 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". Conclusion He was also a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, United Nations Human Rights Commission and later became its chairman. He also served in expert committee of International Labour Organization for many years. He was also appointed as chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He died at the age of 95 due to brief illness and was known as Stalwart of India’s legal fraternity.