Leila Seth, 1st woman CJ, dead

New Delhi: Justice (retd) Leila Seth, the first woman chief justice of a state high court in the country and mother of celebrated author Vikram Seth, has died. She was 86 and passed away on Friday night at her residence in Noida.

New Delhi, May 6: Leila Seth died the way she lived — in the service of people. The first woman chief justice of a high court in India and author Vikram Seth’s mother, donated her organs before her death, her family said. Seth was 86. “She died of a cardiac seizure on Friday, at 10:28 pm. My brother Vikram, sister and our other family members are here,” her younger son Shantum Seth said.

Her family said there would be no funeral as she had pledged to donate her organs.

“My mother has donated her eyes and other organs for transplant or medical research purposes. So we will not have a funeral,” Shantum said.

On May 28, there would be a prayer meeting in her honour, he added. The eminent jurist, much admired in the field of law and in other professions, championed sharper legislation for women.

Seth was one of the three members of the Justice Verma Committee which was constituted after the December 16, 2012 gangrape in Delhi for recommending legal amendments for quicker trials and enhanced punishments for criminals accused of committing sexual assaults against women.

Seth, who broke many a glass ceiling in the legal field, was the first woman from India to have topped the London Bar exam, the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court and also the first woman chief justice of a state high court (Himachal Pradesh).

The eminent jurist was also an author and her autobiography On Balance was a bestseller. Seth had also authored Talking of Justice: People's Rights in Modern India, published in 2014.