Former Acting CJ of Bombay HC Justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari,Dies at 91

Former Acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, a Gandhian and a freedom fighter, Chandrashekhar Shankar Dharmadhikari died today, he was 91 years old. He is survived by a daughter and two sons, one of them is Justice SC Dharmadhikari of the Bombay High Court and the other is Ashutosh Dharmadhikari, practising in the High Court.

He delivered a judgement as an additional judge of the High Court during the Emergency. In the said Judgment he held that apart from the Constitutional Right, a Right to Life is natural and a human right and therefore, even during the Emergency, a Citizen has a right to approach the High Court, as natural and human right to Life cannot be taken away. As per this Judgment he entertained the Petitions and released the detenus, against whom there was no material found. Justice CS Dharmadhikari was known as a most up-right, independent and fearless Judge.

Justice Dharmadhikari hailed from a family of lawyers. Although his parents were freedom fighters and were jailed during the freedom movement. His grandfather TD Dharmadhikari was in the judicial Service, known for his integrity and uprightness, his brother late YS Dharmadhikari was Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh. His father was Acharya Dada Dharmadhikari, a well-known Gandhian thinker.

He received various awards, including the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

The former Justice was born in Raipur, Madhya Pradesh on November 20, 1927. He received his early education in Wardha, Maharashtra and did his Bachelors in Law from University College of Law, Nagpur. He enrolled as an Advocate of the Nagpur High Court on October 25, 1956, and of the Bombay High Court on July 21, 1958. He was appointed Assistant Government Pleader at Nagpur in August, 1965 and Additional Government Pleader High Court At Bombay, Nagpur Bench, in October, 1970.

Justice Dharmadhikari was appointed Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on July 13, 1972. Appointed Permanent Judge from November 24, 1972. He retired on November 20, 1989. Post retirement, Justice Dharmadhikari became the chairman of Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal from 1991 to 1992 and was also chairman of Educational Regulatory Authority. He was associated with Maharashtra State as well as National Women's Commission. He was also a trustee of Gandhi Research Foundation and several other Mahatma Gandhi foundations.

He will be cremated later today.