Former Supreme Court judge P B Sawant died at his residence in Pune on Monday. He succumbed to a cardiac arrest, sources close to the family said adding that he was 90.
Justice Sawant was one of the co-convenors of the Elgar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017, in Pune and was also a part of a panel that conducted an investigation into the 2002 Gujarat riots. Justice Sawant had also served as chairman of the Press Council of India.
Condolences poured in for former Supreme Court judge by many, including Maharashtra ministers Anil Deshmukh and Balasaheb Thorat and NCP leader Sharad Pawar.
He died at his residence in Pune around 9.30 am on Monday following a cardiac arrest, his daughter Sujata Mane said.
His last rites will be performed on Tuesday.
Justice Sawant is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.
Born on June 30, 1930, Justice Sawant enrolled as an advocate in 1957. In 1973, he was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court. In 1989, Justice Sawant was appointed judge of the Supreme Court. He retired in 1995 but remained active in public life.
As a judge of the Supreme Court, Sawant had conducted an inquiry into the Air India plane crash at the Bombay airport in 1982.
Justice Sawant (retd) was one of the members of the Indian People's Tribunal, a fact-finding team headed by Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, to investigate the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.
In 2003, he headed a commission to investigate the graft charges levelled by Anna Hazare against four ministers - Suresh Jain, Nawab Malik, Vijaykumar Gavit and Padamsinh Patil- of the then Maharashtra government.
Justice Sawant's report had indicted Malik, Patil and Jain, following which they resigned from the state cabinet.
With PTI Inputs
