The South Asian Minorities Lawyers Association (SAMLA) is organising a condolence meeting today in the honour of former Chief Justice of India Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi, who passed away on March 2 at the age of 91.
The meeting will be held at 4:30 pm this evening at Conference Hall number 11 of the India Islamic Cultural Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
Born on March 25, 1932 in Surat, Ahmadi entered the legal profession in 1954 after completing the Bachelor of Law (L.LB.). He enrolled as a District Attorney in Bombay. In 1964, he was appointed as a Judge in the City Civil and Sessions Court in Ahmedabad. He became the Secretary of the Legal Department, Government of Gujarat in 1974.
He served as Chancellor at the Aligarh Muslim University for two terms.
Justice Ahmadi was the son of a junior civil judge and spent a large part of his early years living in various districts and talukas.
On September 2, 1976, he was appointed as Judge of the High Court of Gujarat. He was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court in December, 1988 and was elevated to the post of Chief Justice of India on October 25, 1994. The 26th CJI retired on March 24, 1997.
He served as President of the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee in 1989 and as Executive Chairman of the Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes in India between 1990 and 1994. Justice Ahmadi authored 232 judgments and was part of 811 Benches during his stint of more than two years at the Apex Court.
Some of his noteworthy verdicts include S. R. Bommai vs India, Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, Ismail Faruqui vs Union of India, Keshub Mahindra vs State of Madhya Pradesh and L Chandra Kumar vs Union of India.