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Justice Narula passes away
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 1
Justice Ranjit Singh Narula, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, passed away today in the afternoon, according to family sources.

A jurist of eminence, Justice Narula was a leading legal mind of the country and a champion for human rights, who raised his voice specifically against forced disappearances in Punjab.

Justice Narula was on the Citizens Justice Committee floated in May 1985, when the government appointed the Mishra Commission to look into the 1984 riots in New Delhi. The committee was an organisation of the leading legal minds and public figures of that time who pooled their resources to take on the government. Various human rights groups met at Soli Sorabjee's house and formed the committee. Besides Justice Narula, the others on the committee were Sorabjee, General J.S. Aurora, Justice Tarkunde and journalist Khushwant Singh.

When it looked to them Justice Mishra would ignore all affidavits filed in the case, Citizen's Justice Committee withdrew from the commission and then approached the affected and pressurised them to procure counter-affidavits.

Justice Narula often played a role of a peace-maker between various factions of the Akali Dal and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. He was involved in various organisations dedicated to the education and welfare of the Sikh community.