Ashok H Desai, one of the greatest lawyers passed away at 5:30 am this morning. He was the former Attorney general and was a Senior practicing Advocate in the Supreme Court of India.
He held his office as the Solicitor General of India from December 18, 1989 to 2 December 1990.As the Attorney General for India, he held his office from July 9, 1996 to May 6, 1998.
He was also awarded with the Padma Bhushan award and the Law Luminary Award in 2001.
He has appeared in notable cases such as Navtej Singh Johar (decriminalization of Section 377), Nandini Sundar (Salwa Judum case), Vineet Narain (on powers of CBI and CVC), Narmada dam case, Narasimha Rao case (on parliamentary privileges) etc.
He had also written and published several books and articles. He was also the Legal Correspondent for Times of India from 1963 to 1969. Mr. Desai was Professor of Law in Law College, Bombay from 1964 and Lecturer in Law in Bombay College of Journalism from 1967-1972.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde remembered him as a “great lawyer, a better man and someone who commanded universal respect”.
“the legal community has lost a gem”.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde
