Anil B. Divan (born 15 May 1930 – 20 March 2017) was a senior advocate in India. He has been described as an eminent constitutional expert. Anil B. Divan was born on 15 May 1930 and died 20 March 2017. He was president of Law Asia from 1991 to 1993. From February 2009 he was Associate President of the

Bar Association of India Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

. He argued in the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

on a "pro bono" basis in many Public Interest Litigations (PILs), some involving high-level corruption, as an "Amicus Curiae". In 2004 he was a member of the committee on Water Resources Law of the International Law Association. He has been appointed by the government to help resolve

Cauvery The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri (hill), Karnataka, Brahmagiri range in th ...

Water Disputes. In the late 1980s, Divan was one of the founders of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, a

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

that conducts litigation on matters of public interest. The first president was Justice

V. M. Tarkunde Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde (3 July 1909 in Saswad – 22 March 2004 in Delhi), was a prominent Indian lawyer, civil rights activist, and humanist leader and has been referred to as the "Father of the Civil Liberties movement" in India and a former j ...

, who was also the founder of the People's Union for Civil Liberties. Other founder members were senior advocates including

Fali Sam Nariman Fali Sam Nariman (born 10 January 1929) is an Indian jurist. He is the senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India since 1971 and was the President of the Bar Association of India from 1991 to 2010. Nariman is an internationally recognised jur ...

, Shanti Bhushan,

Rajinder Sachar Rajindar Sachar (22 December 1923 – 20 April 2018) was an Indian lawyer and a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He was a member of United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and also served as a ...

and

Colin Gonsalves Colin Gonsalves is a designated Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and the founder of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN). He specializes in human rights protection, labour law and public interest law. He has been awarded Right Liveliho ...

. In February 2005, Prashant Bhushan and Anil B. Divan were counsel for the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking quashing of the CVC Act, 2003, which requires the CBI to obtain permission from the Union government before registering corruption cases against senior bureaucrats. Bhushan argued that the act violated the basic rights of citizens and was counter to the rule of law. The Supreme Court referred the question to a constitution bench of five judges. Divan was a member of the

Committee on Judicial Accountability The Committee on Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reforms (CJAR) is a group of lawyers in India who work to improve the accountability of judges. In 1998 the committee prepared a charge sheet to impeach Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, and obtaine ...

. Commenting on the Judges Enquiry Bill, 2006, he said "The aforementioned new bill is worse than the old Judges Inquiry Act and it needs to be scrapped in toto. This new bill is nothing but a sham". Divan's son Shyam Divan is also a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court. His daughter-in-law, Madhavi Goradia Divan is an author of books on law and also a practising lawyer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Divan, Anil B. 1930 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Indian lawyers Senior Advocates in India