Adish Aggarwala

Dr. Adish C. Aggarwala is a jurist and the president of International Council of Jurists,^[1] chairman of All India Bar Association,^[2] Convener of Indian Council of Jurists,^[3] Chairman of India Legal Information Institute,^[4] Secretary General of All India Senior Advocates Association and Patron of All India Law Students Association.^[5]

Role as a lawyer

Aggarwala is a special counsel of Government of India. In past he has worked as senior Additional Advocate General of Haryana, Additional Advocate General of Tamil Nadu, Additional Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh, Vice-Chairman, Bar Council of India, Vice-President, Supreme Court Bar Association and chairman, Bar Council of Delhi.^[6]

Controversy in bar politics

There was a controversy in the Election for the post of President-ship of the Supreme Court Bar Association [2010] when he was declared defeated only by 2 votes by Mr. P.H Pareikh while Mr. Ram Jethmalani was trailing behind by 22 votes from Dr. Adish Aggarwala.

Being the President of International Council of Jurists, Dr. Aggarwala made a report on the removal of Sri Lankan Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and supported the action of the Government of Sri Lanka by addressing a letter to Sri Lankan President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa while other international organisations were criticising the removal of the Chief Justice.Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhary at a felicitation function organised by the Supreme Court of Pakistan appreciated the role played by Dr. Adish Aggarwala as a leader of Jurists and the Lawyers by stating,"But knowing Mr. Adish C Aggarwala I can tell who is behind this unprecedented opportunity to meet and interact with such a galaxy of lawyers and jurists representing various professional bodies from India. Mr. Aggarwala as President of International Council of jurists has played a significant role in mobilising the collective wisdom of legal minds at the International level. Under his able and dynamic leadership the ICJ and its calendar of activities has attained a significant recognition in the world of judiciary and academia. It is also heartening to note that Mr. Aggarwala is also spearheading the All India Bar Association which has arranged this visit of more than hundred jurists from India." [www.supremecourt.gov.pak]

Dr. Aggarwala had the credit of getting Hasan Abdal [Pakistan] [site of Punja Sahib] declared as a "Holy City" from the Interior Minister of Pakistan Senator A. Rahman Malik vide letter dated 2 October 2012.

Publications

In 2009, Aggarwala authored the book Constitution of India which was released by the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh. The President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil received the book at a special function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan contributed its foreword. Its preface was written by Minister of Law and Justice M. Veerappa Moily. The appreciation of the book was contributed by the Judge of Supreme Court of India Mr. Justice P. Sathasivam.^[7] The second revised edition was released by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Forward was contributed by Minister of Law and Justice Mr. Salman Khurshid and the preface was contributed by Judge Supreme Court of India Justice Altamas Kabir and the appreciation by Judge of Supreme Court of India Justice R.M. Lodha.

Dr. Aggarwala also authored the book "P.V. Narasimha Rao - Scholar Prime Minister" which was released by most reverend Mother Teresa. He also authored "Rajiv Gandhi - An Assessment" which was released by the Prime Minister of India Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao and Foreword was contributed by the Vice-President of India Mr. K.R. Narayanan. He also co-authored {with his brother Mr. Satish Aggarwala, Advocate} "Legacy of Indira Gandhi" which was released by the President of India Giani Zail Singh at Rashtrapati Bhawan on !st death anniversary of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The foreword was contributed by Mr. V.P Singh, Finance Minister of India which included the statement of his absolutely loyalty and his endorsement of the proven ability of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, as follows, "The Last Chapter thus affords a glimpse into the future, Prognosticating that the legacy of Indiraji is safe in hands of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who can be depended upon to lead the nation to take the quantum leap into the 21st century." The book was received by the Prime Minister of India Mr. Rajiv Gandhi at a solemn function at his residence. The second revised edition was released by the Vice-President of India Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma on 19 November 1987 which had the foreword by Commerce and Finance Minister of India Mr. N.D. Tiwari. He was Editor of English fortnightly "Socialist Age" for 13 years.

References