Shanti Swaroop Dhavan

{{Infobox officeholder

|name =Shanti Swaroop Dhavan

|birth_name =

|occupation =

|birth_date =2 July 1906

|death_date ={{death date and age|1978|01|01|1906|7|2|df=y}}

| office = 6th Governor of West Bengal

| constituency =

| term_start = 19 September 1969

| term_end = 21 August 1971

| predecessor =Deep Narayan Sinha (acting)

| successor = Anthony Lancelot Dias

| order2 =

| office2 =

| constituency2 =

| term_start2 =

| term_end2 =

| predecessor2 =

| birth_place =Dera Ismail Khan

}}

Shanti Swaroop Dhavan (2 July 1906 – 1 January 1978) was an Indian statesman, diplomat and jurist who was the 6th Governor of West Bengal from 19 September 1969 to 21 August 1971.

Life and career

Dhavan was born on 2 July 1906 to Rai Bahadur Bali Ram Dhavan, and hailed from Dera Ismail Khan, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.{{cite web|last=Paul|first=Renu|title=South Asians at the Inns of Court: Middle Temple, 1863-1944|url=http://hosted.law.wisc.edu/wordpress/sharafi/files/2010/07/Middle-5.01.pdf}} He was educated at the Forman Christian College, Lahore,{{cite journal|last=Iran Society|title=Indo-iranica|year=1970|volume= 23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZuZtAAAAMAAJ&q=Shanti+swaroop+dhavan}} at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (where he became the first Indian President of the Cambridge Union),[http://www.rajeevdhavan.com/about/ "About Rajeev Dhavan"], rajeevdhavan.com. Accessed 31 July 2020. and in law at the Middle Temple, Inns of Court, London. He served as a lecturer in law at Allahabad University from 1940 to 1954. Dhavan then served as a judge of the Allahabad High Court from 28 June 1958 to 2 July 1967,{{cite web|title=List of Former Hon'ble Judges|url=http://www.allahabadhighcourt.in/Judges/ex-judge1900-1990.htm}} and was appointed a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India.{{cite web|title=SUPREME COURT OF INDIA: LIST OF SENIOR ADVOCATES|url=http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/circular/names%20and%20addresses%20of%20sr.%20advs.ason22022010.pdf}} Dhavan was then appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and served from 1968 to 1969.{{cite book|last=Gopal|first=S|title=Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru|year=1972|publisher=Orient Longman|pages=546|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i64BAAAAMAAJ&q=shanti+swaroop+dhavan+governor}}

He had two sons: Ravi S. Dhavan, who was Judge of the High Courts of Allahabad and Patna; and Rajeev Dhavan,{{Cite web|date=2006-11-25|title=Late diplomat?s wife passes away|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/late-diplomat-s-wife-passes-away/story-SI3rww0vTQH7YJekHsHUkJ.html|access-date=2021-08-22|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}} who became President of the Cambridge Union like his father, and is now a famous Senior Advocate practicing in Supreme Court of India. His daughter Rani Dhavan Shankardass is an Indian social historian and global expert on prison reform. She is the Secretary General of Penal Reform and Justice Association (PRAJA) and the President of Penal Reform International.

Gubernatorial Tenure

He was Governor of West Bengal from 19 September 1969 to 21 August 1971. Dhavan's gubernatorial tenure was marked by the imposition of two stints of President's rule following the fall of the United Front government of Ajoy Mukherjee and the collapse of his third ministry in 1971.{{cite book|last=Dasgupta|first=Surajit|title=West Bengal's Jyoti Basu: A Political Profile|year=1992|publisher=Gian Publishing House|location=Delhi|pages=34–37|isbn=9788121204200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N7QI4eOM18cC&q=shanti+swaroop+dhavan&pg=PA35}}

References

Category:Governors of West Bengal

Category:High commissioners of India to the United Kingdom

Category:20th-century Indian judges

Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Category:Judges of the Allahabad High Court

Category:People from Dera Ismail Khan District

Category:Presidents of the Cambridge Union

Category:1906 births

Category:1978 deaths

Category:Senior advocates in India