Kolkata, May 6 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday condoled the death of Justice Leila Seth, the first woman Chief Justice of a High Court in India.
"Saddened at the passing of Justice Leila Seth. She was a champion of human rights. My condolences to her family," Banerjee tweeted.
Justice Leila Seth, the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court who played a major role in the making of the tough anti-rape law five years ago, died in Noida on Friday night. She was 86.
Seth, mother of author Vikram Seth, was also the first woman to top the Bar examinations in London.
Retiring as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh in 1992, she was appointed in 1995 as the one-member commission to examine the death in custody of Rajan Pillai, and from 1997 to 2000 was a member of the 15th Law Commission of India.