Legal luminary, noted scholar Adv K H Deshpande passes away
| Date :26-Mar-2022 |
Staff Reporter
Senior Advocate Krishna Harihar Deshpande, popularly known as K H Deshpande, left for his heavenly abode on Friday evening, after a brief illness. He was 94. He was a highly respected legal luminary. He had authored commentaries on ‘Bhagavad Geeta’ and Upanishads.
Adv K H Deshpande is survived by his wife Usha, elder son Ravi K Deshpande, former Judge of Bombay High Court; youngest son Rajeev Deshpande, Advocate and former Director, Bank of Maharashtra; daughter Sneha Pangarkar and son-in-law Sanjay Pangarkar, who reside at Pune. The last rites will be performed on Saturday at 10 am at Ambazari ghat.
Adv K H Deshpande was born in the year 1928 at Amravati. He was the eldest son of Vaidya Hariharrao Deshpande, an eminent freedom fighter. Adv K H Deshpande, too, had participated in freedom struggle. He was an active Congress worker and was arrested in June 1942 for distributing literature regarding Quit India Movement against the British.
He started practicing law in 1953 at Akola in the chamber of Adv K Y Deshpande. After a few years, he shifted to Amravati and thereafter to Nagpur and started his practice at Bombay High Court. A doyen of Bar, he was conferred with the designation of a Senior Advocate by the Bombay High Court in 1977. He was foundly referred to as ‘Bhishma Pitahmah’ of the Nagpur Bench by Justice V S Sirpurkar. Unlike his contemporaries, he was the only Advocate to be designated by the High Court without making an application for it.
He argued in several important and landmark cases pertaining to Constitutional law, election law, service law, and taxation. He was a senior standing counsel for a number of Government organisations and corporations. He was a great social worker and chaired various social
organisations including Shree Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal, Amravati;
National Centre for Rural Development, Nagpur; and Central India Research Institute, Nagpur, etc.
Furthermore, Adv K H Deshpande authored several books on spirituality titled ‘Shri-Geetarthabodh’, ‘Chandev-Chalisi’, and ‘Dakshina-Murti’ to name a few. He was conferred with ‘Tattvajna Vibhushana’ title by Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit
University, Ramtek. He expressed his views on contemporary issues including terrorism from time to time, through newspaper articles. His eldest son Jayant Deshpande, who was running a gymnasium Sausthav Health Club at Bajaj Nagar, passed away in 2012.
He led one of the oldest chambers of lawyers in Nagpur, producing a number of excellent advocates. Presently, he was supported by his son Ravi, and assisted by his youger son Rajeev along with his grandsons Ashwin and Anshu. His grand-daughter Ila and her husband Akshay Sudame, too, were blessed with his invaluable guidance. He is survived by his grandsons Prathamesh, Anand, and Anay, and grand-daughters Aditi Puranik and Anisha Pangarkar.
Lost a guide: Darda
Vijay Darda, former MP and Chairman, Lokmat Media Pvt Ltd, stated in a condolence message that in Adv K H Deshpande’s demise he had lost a guide. While serving in the court for more than 60 years, Adv K H Deshpande’s chamber mentored legal luminaries like Adv Shrihari Aney, Meera Khadakkar, R G Deshpande, and his son Ravi K Deshpande. Besides, Adv K H Deshpande was a patron for several social organisations. He also wrote articles spirituality, terrorism, and also on contemporary issues. “His demise comes as an irreparable loss,” Darda added.
