Former Chief Justice of India and former Rajya Sabha member Ranganath Mishra passed away here on Thursday evening after protracted illness. He was 86.
Justice Mishra was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals here on May 27. He is survived by his wife, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
Son of legendary Odia poet Godavarish Mishra, Justice Mishra, born in 1926, did his schooling from Banpur High School as well as PM Academy in Cuttack before he joined Ravenshaw College and then Allahabad University.
Justice Mishra started his career as a legal practitioner in Cuttack and was enrolled as an advocate of the Orissa High Court in 1950.
He was appointed as a Judge of the Orissa High Court in 1969 and became the acting Chief Justice in 1980 before the formal appointment in 1981.
In 1983, he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He headed the Inquiry Commission that probed the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984.
He was appointed Chief Justice of India on September 25, 1990 and retired on November 24, 1991.
Justice Mishra was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1998. Before that he was the first Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission from 1993 to 1996.
In 2004, he headed the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which was popularly known as the Ranganath Mishra Commission, to look into various issues related to linguistic and religious minorities in India.
The commission’s report, which was submitted to the Centre in 2007, continues to generate controversy till date.
His death was mourned by one and all. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader KV Singhdeo expressed heartfelt grief.