Former Supreme Court judge Hargobind Singh Pradhan has passed away. The full court has decided not to hold any sessions of the Supreme Court on Thursday to express grief over Pradhan's death.

According to his son Vijay, Pradhan died on Wednesday at the age of 97 in Dharamshala, India.

Pradhan of Himachal Pradesh, India, was appointed as a judge by King Mahendra Shah. Later, he also became the chairman of the Law Commission.

Reacting to Shrestha's death, senior advocate Shankar Kumar Shrestha said that it was the 'end of the judiciary'. According to him, the Supreme Court Act was amended at that time to make Pradhan a judge.

He is from Bhaksu, Himachal Pradesh, India. At that time, due to obstacles in bringing him to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court Act was amended to allow expatriate Nepalis to become judges of the Supreme Court. He did his BA LLB from Punjab University and his Master of Cooperative Law from Southern Methodist University, Texas, USA.

He lived in Biratnagar as a government lawyer from 2017 to 2021, and in 2022 he became the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Law. In 2027, he was promoted to government advocate and became a temporary judge in the Central Regional Court. Then he became the Registrar of the Supreme Court from 2034 to 2038. He became an additional judge of the Supreme Court in 2038 and remained as an additional judge until 2044. Then he was made a permanent judge in Bhadau in 2048. He resigned on 2051 Paush 5. Then he was made the chairman of the Law Reform Commission.

He resigned before retirement after feeling that he was an expatriate Nepali and had been unfairly promoted to the Supreme Court.

Pradhan is the English translator of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047. Since he studied LLM in the United States, every Chief Justice used to put him forward if there was any need for English in the court. During this time, he also translated the Constitution into English. He had rejected the government's offer to pay him a salary.

His famous judgment was the case of Amar Gurung v. Government. 'A pitcher that has no water, no matter how new it is, will quench the thirst ? What is the purpose of a remedy that has no power? Saying this makes me want to search for the definition of justice. Justice is not a third party between two parties, but only a solution. Perhaps it is the center point between two points on a straight line. It is neither the roar of the devourer, nor the arrogance of the protector. It is not its desire to punish or to inflict punishment. It has no will of its own. Justice is not a point of view, but only a vision - the vision within a human being. Logic alone is not its solution. Perhaps the philosophy of a mirror is inherent in justice. The satisfaction of the recipient and the motivation of the giver will be reflected in it.'

Because of this opinion he wrote, orders are still issued to produce the prisoner within 24 hours in habeas corpus cases, said Vijay Prasad Mishra, President of the Nepal Bar Association.

After the police arrested Gurung for investigation, the Supreme Court was informed about it. Pradhan had expressed this opinion in the dispute over whether the arrested person should be produced in court within 24 hours.

Pradhan was synonymous with integrity. He was also known in the judiciary as a fearless judge who wrote a different opinion from Vishwanath Upadhyay, says Bar President Mishra.

In the Arun III dispute, he had ruled to make regulations until the law on the right to information was enacted. Mishra said that he explained that such a law was needed at that time, saying that the provision of information to the public could not be stopped.