P. B. Sawant

Who is P. B. Sawant?

P. B. Sawant is a former Supreme Court judge in India.

After doing his law degree from Bombay University, Sawant started practise as an advocate at the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court of India. In 1973 he was appointed Judge of the Bombay High Court; among his notable acts was an inquiry on the Air-India aircraft crash in June, 1982. He was appointed justice in the Supreme Court in 1989.

Since his retirement in 1995, he has been active in public affairs.

In 2002, he served with retired justice Hosbet Suresh on an Indian People's Tribunal headed by justice V. R. Krishna Iyer to investigate the 2002 Gujarat riots. Their report includes testimony of the then Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party minister Haren Pandya, who testified about a meeting convened by Narendra Modi on the evening of the Godhra train burning. At this meeting, officials were instructed not to obstruct the Hindu rage following the incident. The report also highlighted a second meeting, held in Lunawada village of Panchmahal district, attended by state ministers Ashok Bhatt, and Prabhatsinh Chauhan, and other BJP and RSS leaders, where "detailed plans were made on the use of kerosene and petrol for arson and other methods of killing.".