New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI): Former Lok Sabha Secretary General and constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap passed away on Thursday after prolonged illness. He was 97.
Kashyap’s end came at around 10 am at his Sainik Farm residence, officials of the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.
He was suffering from age-related issues and died of cardio-pulmonary arrest, they said.
President Draupadi Murmu, Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla condoled his demise even as they recalled his role in interpreting the Constitution and playing a key role in drafting laws.
In her message, President Murmu said, “He enriched our study of the Constitution and the development of our parliamentary system with his erudition and insight. I express my deepest condolences to his family.” V-P Radhakrishnan said that as an eminent constitutional expert and distinguished scholar, Kashyap made invaluable contributions to the understanding of India’s Constitution and parliamentary democracy.
Prime Minister Modi said Kashyap was one of India’s foremost constitutional scholars whose contributions to parliamentary and constitutional discourse enriched the society.
Kashyap was part of the high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind to prepare a legal framework on simultaneous elections.
Author of over 100 books, he served as the secretary general of Lok Sabha from 1983 to 1990. He served Parliament for over 37 years from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru’s first Lok Sabha to the 9th Lok Sabha.
Born in 1929 in a family of freedom fighters at Chadpur in Bijnor in the then United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), he actively participated in the national struggle for Independence as a teenager, leading local student movements first in Bijnor and later Meerut.
He received his higher education and professional training at Allahabad, New Delhi, Washington DC, London and Geneva.
Kashyap began his professional career as a journalist and as assistant professor at the University of Allahabad and undertook advocate’s training at the Allahabad High Court before joining Parliament.
Recipient of many honours, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
After voluntary retirement from Parliament, he served as honorary constitutional advisor to the Government of India on Panchayati Raj Institutions laws, as a member and chairman of the drafting committee of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and recently served as a member on the committee on ‘One Nation, One Election’ chaired by former president Ram Nath Kovind.
Kashyap is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla condoled his demise and said it is a profound loss to Indian parliamentary democracy, constitutional discourse and public life. PTI NAB RUK RUK
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