P. N. Bhagwati Biography 
P. N. Bhagwati is one of the finest judges the Supreme Court has ever seen. He was only 51 years old when he was appointed as 17th Chief Justice of India. Perhaps he is the youngest Chief Justice of India. It is a trend in India to appoint Chief Justices in their late 50s, and only a few judges were able to reach this position before they reach 55, a procedure quite common in the 1970s. Bhagwati served in that position during the period 12 July 1985 – 20 December 1986. He served close to 14 years in office. Prior to it, he served as the Chief Justice, Gujarat High Court during the period, 16 August 1967 – 17 July 1973. He spent more time in Supreme Court than Gujarat High Court.
His full name is Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati. He was born on 21 December 1921 in Gujarat into a family of well-educated and prolific people. His father Justice Natwarlal H. Bhagwati served as a Supreme Court judge. His younger brother Jagdish Bhagwati is a well-known economist, while another brother S. N. Bhagwati is a famous neurosurgeon. His education was completed at Mumbai, and during his college days he was associated with freedom struggle movement for which he was arrested during Quit India Movement. He completed LLB from Government Law College, Mumbai.
He started his professional career in Mumbai High court. He was appointed a judge of the Gujarat High Court in the year 1960. He rose to Chief Justice Position in 1967, a position that he held till 1973. He has also briefly served as Governor of Gujarat for two occasions before he was appointed as Chief Justice of India in 1985. Except the controversial judgment of ADM Jabalpur case, his professional career has been marked as excellent, and equaled to Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, a pioneer of judicial activism. Bhagwati introduced the concepts of public interest litigation and absolute liability to the Indian judicial system during his tenure as Supreme Court Judge. In 2007 Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan for his outstanding contributions to the field.
Published: N/A
Updated: May 29, 2016
