Distinguished academic, citizen-activist, and one of India’s most steadfast champions of electoral reform, professor Jagdeep S Chhokar passed away in Delhi on Friday, 12th September, at the age of 81, following a heart attack.
A former professor, dean, and director-in-charge at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), Prof Chhokar combined scholarly rigour with a deep commitment to public life. After retiring from IIMA in 2006, he dedicated more than two decades to campaigning for free and fair elections through the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an organisation he co-founded with colleagues in 1999.
It was under ADR’s pioneering legal interventions—with Prof Chhokar as a lead petitioner—that the Supreme Court ushered in some of India’s most consequential electoral reforms, including mandatory disclosures of candidates’ criminal, financial, and educational records. More recently, he was a central figure in the case that led to the striking down of the electoral bonds scheme.
Born in 1943, Prof Chhokar began his career as a mechanical engineer with the Indian Railways, before pursuing an MBA from the University of Delhi and a PhD from Louisiana State University. His academic journey led him to IIMA, where he taught organisational behaviour, trained future leaders, and contributed to global scholarship, including co-editing the award-winning volume Culture and Leadership Across the World (2007). He also held visiting appointments in the US, France, Japan, and Australia, leaving a global academic footprint.
Never content to remain within academia, Prof Chhokar immersed himself in public service. Through ADR, he campaigned relentlessly against opacity in politics, working for the purification of electoral rolls and raising alarms about risks of disenfranchisement. He also played a guiding role in Aajeevika Bureau, addressing the challenges of internal migration in India.
Prof Chhokar’s intellectual curiosity extended well beyond management and governance. A trained lawyer, an avid writer, and a passionate bird watcher with a certificate in ornithology, he was as comfortable debating constitutional principles as he was observing birds on the IIMA campus.
Friends and colleagues remember him as humble, selfless, and unwavering in his pursuit of justice.
According to senior counsel Prashant Bhushan, the sudden passing away of Prof Chokhar is a major setback to democracy in the country. "He spearheaded many campaigns for making our democracy more robust, most recently against the special intensive revision (SIR) of the Election Commission of India (ECI). He was incisive, bold & fearless. Will be sorely missed by family, friends & activists alike," he says in a post on X.
“Truly a selfless champion of democracy and public causes,” said political activist Yogendra Yadav in tribute. True to his lifelong ethos of service, Prof Chhokar’s body will be donated, as per his wishes.
He leaves behind not just a legacy of academic excellence and reformist victories, but also a generation of citizens inspired by his belief that democracy thrives only when people demand accountability. His life was a testament to the power of scholarship in the service of society.