Justice Abichandani is No More
Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.WE deeply regret to announce the sudden death of the former President of CESTAT and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court. The end came after a massive heart attack yesterday morning at Ahmedabad. He was a prolific writer and an erudite scholar with deep understanding of tax laws and had written several articles for us. Justice Abichandani brought in several revolutionary changes in the CESTAT like a weekly Cause List and a proper dress code for the Tribunal judges and the Departmental Representatives. He also removed the special status of the Principal Bench in Delhi having All India Jurisdiction.
He was born on Human Rights Day – 10 th December 1942 and was a humanist to the core. He had passed very important landmark judgements like, that an acquitted person cannot be asked to furnish bail; that a dog bite is an accident. He observed that If a person commits any wrong, undoubtedly he should be penalized or punished, but it is never necessary to humiliate him and maul his dignity as a human being.
On the excisability of cinder, there was a lively debate in our columns recently and it was Justice Abichandani who ruled that Cinder was not excisable in
I vividly remember the few hours I had the privilege of spending with the Justice and his affectionate wife Lakshmi (who was also a judge) and the Guajarati sweets she made me eat, just a few months before his retirement from CESTAT. Talking to him was a great learning experience on the inside stories of Indian Judiciary. I told him that there were rumours that he was trying for an extension in the post of President of CESTAT. He said, “ask Lakshmi”. She told me, “he had had enough, let him leave that job and practice in the Supreme Court. Even if he is given an extension, he would not accept it”. Lakshmi was already practicing in the Supreme Court and he later joined the Supreme Court Bar as a senior advocate.
I called up Lakshmi to express our deep feelings of condolences on behalf of TIOL Netizens.
Death lays its icy hands on kings – judges are no exception; Justice Abichandani is no more – He will live for a long time with his scholarly articles and judgements.