Jmu born Ex CJI Justice A S Anand passes away

Jammu: Former Chief Justice of India Justice Adarsh Sein Anand died of a cardiac arrest here Friday, family sources said. Justice Anand, 81, is survived by his wife and three daughters. The sources said he passed away this morning after suffering a massive heart attack. The mortal remains of the 29th Chief Justice of India would be cremated on December 3 at the Lodhi cremation ground here, they said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor N.N. Vohra, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, National Conference President and three time former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, National Conference Working President and another former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, several ministers, and others have condoled the sad passing of Dr. A.S. Anand, former Chief Justice of India and Chairman of National Human Rights Commission.
Justice Anand occupied the top-most judicial post from October 10, 1998 till November 1, 2001. Anand, who was also the Chairman of National Human Rights Commission from 2003 to 2006, had penned the landmark verdict in the D K Basu case, laying down guidelines on arrest, custodial torture and protection of prisoners’ rights. Born on November 1, 1936 in Jammu and Kashmir, he had graduated from the Jammu and Kashmir University and obtained his law degree from the Lucknow University. Justice Anand practiced law in the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh and was appointed as an additional Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High court in 1975. He was confirmed as a permanent Judge of the same Court in February, 1976. He was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court on 1984 and its Chief Justice the next year. Justice Anand was elevated to the Supreme Court in November 1991 and subsequently became the CJI in 1998. He had also authored a book titled “The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir – Its Development and Comments”. He was unanimously elected as the President of the International Institute of Human Rights Society in 1996. He had participated in various national and international conferences including the first Appellate Judges Conference at Manila (Philippines) in 1977, 2nd Worldwide Common Law Judiciary Conference at Washington in 1997 and the SAARC Chief Justices’ Conference at Colombo in October, 1998.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief at the passing away of Justice Anand. “Saddened by the demise of former Chief Justice of India, Justice AS Anand. My thoughts are with his family in this hour of grief. May his soul rest in peace,” Modi said in a tweet.
In a condolence message, the Governor N N Vohra prayed to Almighty for granting peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this unfortunate loss.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, in her condolence message, described Justice Anand as an eminent jurist of the country who considered justice to be a constitutional right and would long be remembered for providing inexpensive justice to people. She said his judgments on issues of public interest would continue to guide the legal and legislative fraternity to work for the collective good of the society. Mehbooba Mufti also recalled the contribution of Justice Anand, a son of the soil, in introducing the concept of Lok Adalats as the chairman of National Legal Services Authority and also as the chairman of National Human Rights Commission of India. The Chief Minister has prayed for peace to the departed soul and extended her heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family of Justice Anand.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, in his condolence message, prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this unfortunate loss.