Remembering Jagdeep S Chhokar: A Relentless Crusader for Clean Politics

Even at 81, Professor saab, as he was fondly called, was never on vacation. I remember once calling him for a quote for a story, only to learn he was at his holiday home in Goa. Embarrassed, I told him we could talk later. Minutes later, my phone rang. It was him, ready with a crisp line for the story. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added with a chuckle, “People like us are never on vacation.” It was more than a quip. It was the ethos of a man who saw public service not as work, but as a lifelong commitment.Jagdeep S Chhokar, professor, activist, and co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), passed away on 12 September in Delhi after he suffered a heart attack.A man who straddled the worlds of engineering, management, law, and civil society with rare conviction, Chhokar will be remembered as one of India’s most persistent voices demanding transparency and accountability in politics and elections.An Unclear and Incomplete Verdict | On the Supreme Court's EVM-VVPAT JudgmentBorn on 25 November 1944, Chhokar’s life was defined by an unusual breadth of interests and accomplishments. He trained first as a mechanical engineer, later earning an MBA from the University of Delhi. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in management from Louisiana State University in the United States, and added an LL.B. from Gujarat University to his credentials. This mix of engineering precision, managerial clarity, and legal rigour shaped both his teaching and his activism.Chhokar began his career with the Indian Railways, where he worked as an engineer-manager, before moving into the corporate sector as an international marketing manager.But it was academia that gave him his true professional home. In 1985, Chhokar joined the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad as a professor. For more than two decades, he taught, researched, and mentored, serving also as Dean and Director-in-charge of the institute in the early 2000s.Retirement from IIM-A marked the beginning of a second career for Chhokar that would have far-reaching implications for Indian democracy.Along with fellow IIM-A professors, he co-founded the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in 1999. The idea was to shine a bright light on the candidates who sought to govern India by compelling disclosure of their criminal records, financial assets, and educational qualifications.ADR’s pioneering public interest litigation reached the Supreme Court in 2002, which ruled that voters had the right to know these details. It was a watershed judgment that changed the texture of Indian elections. For the first time, the electorate could access hard data about those who sought their votes. In the years since, ADR under Chhokar’s stewardship has continued to file cases, produce reports, and build public tools such as the MyNeta database that empower citizens with knowledge.Chhokar saw democratic reform as a lifelong project.He worked with the same energy on issues such as political funding — most recently in the legal battles over the Electoral Bonds scheme, which was struck down by the Supreme Court last year. EVMs-VVPATs Case | 5 Key Reasons Why the Ball is in the SC’s CourtHis passing leaves behind not just family, friends, and students who cherished his guidance, but also an institutional legacy in ADR that will continue to shape Indian democracy.What he did was not glamorous work, and it often ran into hostility from the powerful, but he persevered. "The citizen’s right to know is the bedrock of democracy," he once said at a public event, and he lived that belief until the very end.Today, India’s democracy remains fragile, with questions being raised over the functioning of the Election Commission, credibility of the EVMs, and purity of electoral rolls. This makes Chhokar’s legacy more urgent than ever. His journey reminds us that the work of reform is never complete. It is built slowly, case by case, disclosure by disclosure, citizen by citizen.

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Remembering Jagdeep S Chhokar: A Relentless Crusader for Clean Politics

Jagdeep S Chhokar's legacy in clean politics endures, inspiring transparency in Indian democracy.

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Topics: Association for Democratic Reforms Obituary Electoral Reforms