| P. B. Gajendragadkar | |
| Order1: | 7th |
| Office1: | Chief Justice of India |
| Term Start1: | 1 February 1964 |
| Term End1: | 15 March 1966 |
| Appointer1: | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Predecessor1: | Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha |
| Successor1: | Amal Kumar Sarkar |
| Office2: | Chairman, 6th & 7th Law Commission of India |
| Term Start2: | 1971 |
| Term End2: | 1974 |
| Birth Date: | 1901 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Satara, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| Death Place: | Bombay, Maharashtra, India |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Alma Mater: | Karnatak College, Dharwar, Deccan College (Pune), ILS Law College |
| Children: | Dr. Sharad Jahagirdar, Asha Kirtane |
| Parents: | Balacharya |
| Relatives: | Ashvathamacharya (brother) |
| Awards: | Padma Vibhushan, Zala Vedant Prize |
Pralhad Balacharya Gajendragadkar (16 March 1901 - 12 June 1981) was the 7th Chief Justice of India, serving from February 1964 to March 1966.
Prahlad Balacharya Gajendragadkar was born into Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family on 16 March 1901 to Gajendragadkar Balacharya in Satara, Bombay Presidency. The family of Gajendragadkar's, migrated from Gajendragad, a town in Dharwad district in Karnataka to Satara (now part of Maharashtra).[1] Gajendragadkar's father Bal-Acharya (Teacher) was a Sanskrit Vidwan (scholar). P. B. Gajendragadkar, the youngest son of Bal-Acharya spread the fame of the family name Gajendra-Gadkar name. He followed his older brother Ashvathama-Acharys to Mumbai and carried the torch of the Gajendragadkar tradition in Nyaya (Law) to the western world. He passed M.A. from Deccan College (Pune) in 1924 and LL.B. with honors from the ILS Law College in 1926 and joined the Bombay Bar on the Appellate side. In the early days, he edited the 'Hindu Law Quarterly. His critical edition of the classic 'Dattaka Mimamsa' earned him a great reputation for scholarship. He became the acknowledged leader of the Bombay Bar, well known for his forensic skill and legal acumen. He was influenced by Jawaharlal Nehru's rationality and scholasticism.[2]
In 1945, he was appointed a Judge of the Bombay High Court. In January 1956, he was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench and rose to become the Chief Justice of India in 1964. His contribution to the development of Constitutional and Industrial Law has been hailed as great and unique.
Gajendragadkar intervened and got the then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court S. Ramachandra Iyer to resign after a lawyer G. Vasantha Pai found evidence that he forged his date of birth to avoid compulsory retirement at the age of 60 as the case filed by Pai would severely damage the judiciary and he got Ramachandra Iyer to resign before the case came up for hearing this led the case to be dismissed as he had already resigned his lordship.[3] [4] [5]
At the request of the Government of India, he headed a number of commissions such as the Central Law Commission, National Commission on Labour and the Bank Award Commission. At the request of Indira Gandhi, then the Prime Minister of India, he held the honorary office of the Gandhigram Rural Institute in Southern India.
He served twice as the President of Social Reform Conference and organized campaigns for eradicating the evils of casteism, untouchability, superstition and obscurantism to promote national integration and unity.
Gajendragadkar also carried forward the Madhva tradition of Vedanta and Mimasa. He served as the General Editor of 'The Ten Classical Upanishads', a series sponsored by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Like his father, Gajendragadkar was also a Mukhasta-vidwan.
Gajendragadkar had 2 daughters, Dr. (Mrs.) Sharad Jahagirdar, a renowned gynaecologist who resided in Mumbai, and Asha Kirtane, an artist residing in Pune. His eldest daughter, Dr. (Mrs.) Sharad Jahagirdar married Justice Raghavendra Jahagirdar who served as a judge on the Bombay High Court.
In 1972, Gajendragadkar was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award from the Government of India.