Justice Sawant contributed to ensure autonomy of courts: Pawar

Condolences poured in forformer Supreme Court judge P B Sawant who died due to cardiacarrest in Pune in Maharashtra on Monday morning, with NCPchief Sharad Pawar hailing Sawant for his ''valuable''contribution to ensure that courts remained autonomous indemocracy.

Justice Sawant, 90, was one of the co-conveners of theElgar Parishad conclave held on December 31, 2017 in Pune.

He was also part of a panel that conducted aninvestigation into the 2002 Gujarat riots.

He had also served as chairman of the Press Council ofIndia.

Pawar, a former Union minister, said Justice Sawanttook care throughout his life to see how his intelligencewould help the common people. He also insisted onConstitutional values, the NCP chief added.

Apparently referring to the reported remarks made byformer Chief Justice of India (CJI) and Rajya Sabha MP RanjanGogoi about the judiciary, Pawar said, ''PB Sawant's importancegets highlighted at a time when a former Chief Justice ofIndia talked about the judiciary being in a ramshackle state.

Not only in giving justice, he (Sawant) kept forth viewsaggressively for the last man in the social sector too''.

Maharashtra ministers Anil Deshmukh and BalasahebThorat also expressed grief over the death of Justice Sawant.

''Pained by the demise of noted former Justice P.B.

Sawant Ji. My thoughts and prayers are with his family andfriends in this hour of grief. May the departed soul rest inpeace,'' Home Minister Deshmukh tweeted.

Revenue Minister and Congress leader Thorat said arenowned jurist died in the form of Sawant.

''...My tributes to him! We are part of the Sawantfamilys grief,'' Thorat said in Marathi on the micro-bloggingsite.

NCP MP from Baramati Supriya Sule said the country haslost a ''great jurist''.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in hiscondolence message said the movement of social reforms in thestate suffered an irreparable loss in the demise of JusticeSawant.

''Justice Swant will be remembered for his contributiontowards the judiciary and social reforms. We have lost aperson who was vocal on various social and political issues ofthe country,'' he said.

Ajit Pawar said after retiring as a supreme courtjudge, Justice Sawant devoted himself to the social work andtoiled to strengthen the freedom of expression. ''He went on tobecome the voice for the weak and deprived class,'' Ajit Pawaradded.

Retired High Court judge justice B G Kolse Patil saidjustice Sawant ''was a testimony of how an ideal person shouldbe''.

''Be it social, personal or judicial life, JusticeSawant never committed any mistake,'' he added.