NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI/AHMEDABAD, JAN 15
Former Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court Justice P.R. Gokulakrishnan, who had also served as Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court, died here on Tuesday.
Hailing from an agricultural family, he was elevated as a judge of Madras High Court in the year 1985.
During his stint in Gujarat as Chief Justice, he had served as the Governor of the State on two occasions. He was also the recipient of the rare honour of having been a Chief Justice who was accorded a send-off by the State Cabinet in recognition of his services.
Post-retirement, he had also served as the chairman of the Gokulakrishnan Commission for Other Backward Classes of Gujarat from July 1996.
After the retirement, the Government of Tamil Nadu constituted a Commission of Inquiry led by him to inquire into the causes and circumstances that led to serial bomb blasts which killed 50 and injured more than 200 people in Coimbatore on February 14, 1998.
Later, he held many other posts such as the chairperson of Tamil Nadu Iyal, Isai, Nataga Mandram and the Board of Legal Studies of Bharathidasan University, Tiruchi.
In his condolence message, DMK president M.K. Stalin said that when he retired as the Chief Justice of Gujarat, the State cabinet gave him a farewell.
“This proved to be a great honour for Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Stalin also said Gokulakrishnan. who headed a Commission to probe the Coimbatore riots, ensured justice for the common man. He also released the sixth volume of Kalaignar’s autobiography Nenjukku Needhi, Stalin added.
