P. N. Bhagwati

Prafullachandra Bhagwati
17th Chief Justice of India
In office 12 July 1985 – 20 December 1989
Appointed by	Giani Zail Singh
Preceded by	Y. V. Chandrachud
Succeeded by	R. S. Pathak
Governor of Gujarat (acting)
In office 17 March 1973 – 4 April 1973
Preceded by	Shriman Narayan
Succeeded by	K. K. Viswanathan
Chief Justice, Gujarat High Court
In office 16 August 1967 – 17 July 1973
Governor of Gujarat (acting)
In office 7 December 1967 – 26 December 1967
Preceded by	Nityanand Kanungo
Succeeded by	Shriman Narayan
Personal details
Born	Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (1921-12-21)21 December 1921 Ahmedabad,[1] Bombay Presidency, British India
Died	15 June 2017(2017-06-15) (aged 95) New Delhi, India
Spouse	Prabhavati Shethji
Children	3
Parent	Natwarlal H. Bhagwati (father)
Relatives	Jagdish Bhagwati (brother) Padma Desai (sister-in-law) Shardul S. Shroff (son-in-law)
Alma mater	Bombay University, Government Law College, Bombay

Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (21 December 1922 – 15 June 2017) was the 17th Chief Justice of India, serving from 12 July 1985 until his retirement on 20 December 1986. He introduced the concepts of public interest litigation and absolute liability in India, and for this reason is held, along with Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, to be a pioneer of judicial activism in the country. He is the longest-served supreme court judge (including Chief Justice to tenure) in India.