New Delhi: Former Attorney General of India and senior advocate Ashok Desai passed away on Monday morning.
A Padma Bhushan awardee, Desai held office as the Attorney General of India from July 9, 1996 to May 6, 1998.
Earlier, he was the Solicitor General of India from 18 December, 1989 to December 2, 1990.
Desai studied at the prestigious Fergusson College in Pune and thereafter went to the Government Law College, Mumbai.
He started his practice in 1956 at the Bombay high court and was designated as a senior advocate on August 8, 1977.
Desai took up several landmark cases, including the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the Vineet Narain case relating to investigation into allegations of corruption against high-ranking public officials in the country, the Narmada Dam case and the Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) (IMDT) Act in Assam, among others.
Saddened by the demise of former Attorney General of India & senior advocate Ashok Desai ji. We will fondly remember him for the legal role he played during the scrapping of the #IMDTAct.
My heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members. May his soul rest in peace.
— Sarbananda Sonowal (@sarbanandsonwal) April 13, 2020
In 1972, when playwright Vijay Tendulkar’s contentious social commentary ‘Sakharam Binder’ faced a ban on grounds of obscenity, it was Desai who came to his rescue.
His advocacy was responsible for striking down of censorship laws in Maharashtra.
Senior lawyers took to Twitter to pay tributes to Desai and described him as the “doyen” of the bar.
So sad to hear about Ashok Desai’s passing. Aside from being brilliant, he was really kind to all juniors, kind to me. He was a great proponent of the principle that a good idea can come from anywhere.
— Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) April 13, 2020
Several senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan, have both tweeted on his passing.
RIP Ashok Bhai, a doyen of the bar, former AG and a fine man, with the highest ethical standards&commited to many causes. He was a member of our Committee on Judicial Accountability which spearheaded Justice Ramaswami’s impeachment & campaigned for better accountability of judges https://t.co/BcSMVbrfTV
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) April 13, 2020
Ashok Desai , Senior Advocate , passed away this morning.
A doyen of the bar will always be remembered for his contributions to the law and for his unmatched wit
My heartfelt condolences to the family for this loss
May his soul rest in peace
— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) April 13, 2020