Jagdeep S. Chhokar (1944–2025): Relentless sentinel of India’s democratic soul

On the morning of 12 September 2025, India lost one of its most unwavering champions of democracy and electoral integrity — Jagdeep S. Chhokar passed away at the age of 80 following a heart attack in Delhi. His departure leaves a void in India’s civil society, academia and among legions of citizens who believed that fair and transparent elections form the bedrock of a true democracy.

Formative years: A life of restless purpose

Born in 1944, Chhokar’s journey from a mechanical engineer in the Indian Railways to a pioneering reformer was marked by serendipitous twists and dogged persistence. After stints as a management professional and then a highly respected professor, dean, and director-in-charge at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, he retired in 2006.

Yet, retirement for Chhokar was not a retreat but a beginning. The ephemerality of life, driven home by personal health crises, propelled him inexorably toward activism of the highest order.

His academic breadth included teaching in countries such as Australia, France, Japan and the US, researching organisational behaviour and cross-cultural management and authoring widely cited works in his field. His relentless energy, however, was always drawn back to the question of how to improve governance and empower ordinary citizens.

The birth of a crusader — and the Association for Democratic Reforms

In 1999, what began as an exercise in curiosity — scrutinising nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections — quickly revealed stark gaps in India’s political transparency. At the time, candidates needed only to submit their names and basic personal details, with little information accessible to voters about their criminal records, financial standing or educational backgrounds.

Stunned by these omissions and deeply committed to fixing them, Chhokar and a group of IIM colleagues filed a PIL (public interest litigation) in the Delhi High Court.

Their courageous and ultimately successful petition led to the formation of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), with the express objective of making Indian democracy more accountable and participatory. The Delhi High Court’s 2000 decision mandated much broader disclosures from candidates — an order eventually affirmed and expanded by the Supreme Court in landmark judgements in 2002 and 2003, despite fierce resistance from the political establishment.

Milestones that changed Indian elections

Jagdeep S. Chhokar’s activism, alongside ADR, transformed India’s electoral landscape in tangible, far-reaching ways:

• Mandatory disclosure of candidate backgrounds: Following ADR’s legal battles, all candidates for Lok Sabha and assembly elections are now required by law to disclose, under sworn affidavit, detailed information on criminal records, assets and liabilities and educational qualifications — a historic step toward informed voting.

• Defining new standards of accountability: ADR’s arguments at the Supreme Court led to the electoral bond scheme being declared unconstitutional in 2024, striking a blow for financial transparency in political party funding. This critical victory was widely described as ADR’s “crowning glory”.

• Voter rights and the purification of electoral rolls: Chhokar was unsparing in scrutinising the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) processes, warning against any potential disenfranchisement of citizens and constantly pushing to shore up the integrity of electoral rolls.

• Driving the debate on EVM security: Persistently raising the alarm on threats to the electronic voting machine, Chhokar played a pivotal role in a 2024 Supreme Court order for new protocols to check and verify EVMs.
  

A mind always open, a heart always restless

Jagdeep Chhokar remained a thorn in the side of complacent authority. He confronted the political class unwilling to reform itself, fighting back with patience and conviction honed from decades of bird watching — a passion that demanded the same doggedness as the long battles he waged for Indian democracy. The “grand old man of ADR” was, by those who knew and observed him, a model of humility, decency — and steely resolve.

His activism was always underpinned by a sense of service, exemplified in his final act of donating his body for medical research — a gesture in line with his lifelong ethos of giving back to society.

Today, tributes have poured in from all quarters: politicians, civil society, lawyers, academics and election commissioners alike.

Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa called his passing “tragic”, underlining that “people like him and ADR are vital for questioning authorities, a healthy sign for any democracy”.

RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha noted that Chhokar forced the nation “to look into the mirror of its electoral practices and confront the cracks beneath the surface of its democratic edifice”.

Legal luminaries too have mourned the loss of a tenacious guardian who “fought well to preserve India’s democratic institutions and kept them on the right track”.

Political scientist Yogendra Yadav described Chhokar as “a selfless champion of democracy and public causes”.

Jagdeep Chhokar would be the last to claim that his task was done. The struggle for political transparency in India remains ongoing, with constant threats from entrenched interests and attempts to roll back hard-won victories. As Chhokar himself noted, “Our democracy cannot be vibrant as long as political parties remain non-democratic.”

He consistently championed greater accountability for political parties, stronger laws to curb the criminalisation of politics and robust mechanisms to empower voters. His twin realisation — that democracy must forever be made and remade, and that no battle for justice is ever truly finished — will remain a lodestar for all who walk the path after him.

The man behind the reformer

Chhokar’s activism never dulled his extraordinary curiosity about the world. A passionate bird watcher, trained lawyer and a writer whose research appeared in international journals, he brought the rigour of an academic, the skepticism of a scientist and the empathy of a citizen to every cause he embraced. His journey held lessons about embracing change, staying humble in the face of struggle and, above all, the necessity of never giving up.

Jagdeep S. Chhokar’s life thus stands as a testament to the power of one individual to move the levers of history, however stubborn the resistance. His relentless pursuit of a cleaner democracy and his insistent hope for a better society have forever altered India’s political landscape.

In mourning his death, the nation is called not merely to remember, but to renew its own commitment to the ideals for which he lived and worked. His legacy, unfinished yet indelible, now belongs to all who care about democracy being not just a contest of power but a ritual of trust.

And so passes Jagdeep S. Chhokar — relentless sentinel, gentle revolutionary, and a conscience for our times. His light endures.

Hasnain Naqvi is a former member of the history faculty at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Read more of his writing here