At the age of 11, Bipinchandra J Diwan had participated in Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March.
On Monday, the city lost one of its most respected citizens, Bipinchandra J Diwan, legal luminary and the trustee of the famous Diwan Ballubhai School. Diwan, 93, was suffering from stomach ulcers for the last couple of months and breathed his last at 1:00 am on Monday.
At the young age of 11, Diwan had participated in the Dandi Yatra on March 12, 1930 with Mahatma Gandhi. Incidentally, he died on the same date -- March 12. His funeral procession started from his residence and was brought to Diwan Ballubhai School in Paldi on Monday morning. Dignitaries from the state judiciary, education fraternity and business class attended his funeral. The late Diwan is survived by his daughters Vaishali and Pallavi.
The first ‘centurion’ blood donor from Ahmedabad, Diwan was born on August 20, 1919, educated at Propriety High School in Ahmedabad and did his Masters in Arts and LLB from a Mumbai based college, Pallavi told DNA. Diwan was appointed judge at the civil court at the age of 35 and was High Court judge at 45. Amitabh Thaker, Diwan’s son-in- law, said that he became chief justice at the Gujarat High Court in 1973. Diwan was also appointed chief justice in Andhra Pradesh and officiating Governor of the state. He retired from Gujarat High Court in 1981.
“He was one of the justices to get transferred in the time of emergency, at a time when justices were hardly transferred,” said Thaker. Diwan was also appointed by the Supreme Court in the issue of the division of property of the Maharaja of Jaipur in the capacity of advisor and administrator.
Principal of the Diwan Balubhai School, Kirit Joshi said that though he was old, never missed out on visiting the school. “At the age of 93, he was very active and visited school every day,” he said. Diwan was associated with educational institutes as trustee and advisor like Nirma University, Bhavans’ College and IIMA.
Sudrshan Iyenger, vice-chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith who attended the funeral, said that it is an irreparable loss for Ahmedabad and Gujarat. “He was a highly respected figure and was known for his balanced judgement and implementation,” he said.
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