‘Mother of Orphans’, Padma Shri awardee Sindhutai Sapkal passes away
Pune (PTI): Renowned social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, fondly known as `orphan children's mother', died following a heart attack at a private hospital here, doctors said.
Sapkal, who had received the Padma Shri last year, had completed 74 years in November. She had been admitted to the Galaxy Care Hospital here.
"She had undergone a hernia surgery one and a half months ago and recovery was very slow. Today she died of a heart attack around 8 pm," said Dr Shailesh Puntambekar, Medical Director of the hospital.
Sapkal, who grew up in extreme poverty and had to suffer immense hardship, went on to set up institutes for orphan children. Born on November 14, 1948, in the Wardha district of Maharashtra, Sapkal was forced to drop out of school after she had passed Std 4th.
At the tender age of 12, she was married to a 32-year-old man. After she gave birth to three children, her husband abandoned her even when she was pregnant. Her own mother and the village where she had grown up refused to help, forcing her to beg to raise her daughters at one point.
She overcame these circumstances with sheer willpower and started working for orphans. Having raised over 1,050 orphan children, she could boast of having 207 sons-in-law and 36 daughters-in-law.
Besides the Padma award, she received more than 750 awards and honours. She used the award money to build shelters for orphans.
A well-equipped orphanage came up at Manjri in Pune district due to her efforts. In 2010, a Marathi biopic on her, "Mee Sindhutai Sapkal" released. It was selected for world premiere at the 54th London Film Festival. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray condoled her death.
Sapkal, who took care of thousands of children, was a veritable goddess in the form of mother, he said.
Her last rites would be conducted with state honours on Wednesday, a tweet from the Chief Minister's Office said.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that in her death, Maharashtra had lost a mother. She grew up facing adversities and dedicated her life to those who had been rejected by society, he said on Twitter.
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Won't take up any official post after retirement: Outgoing CJI Sanjiv Khanna
New Delhi, May 13 (PTI): Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday said though he wasn't going to accept any post-retirement official assignments, he would continue his innings in law.
Justice Khanna, who was elevated to the top court in January 18, 2019, was appointed as the CJI on November 11, 2024 and would be demitting office on Tuesday.
After the conclusion of the ceremonial bench proceedings, the CJI met journalists in the apex court premises and said, “I will not accept any post-retirement post ... .perhaps will do something with law.”
Many former apex court judges begin their innings in arbitration post judgeship.
“I will have a third innings and will do something related to law,” the CJI said.
Responding to a query related to the cash discovery controversy involving high court judge Justice Yashwant Vermam, he said, “Judicial thinking has to be decisive and adjudicatory.”
He added, “We see plus and minus points and decide the issue, then rationally we weigh various factors that help us to make a right decision.”
The CJI dealt with the cash row controversy following a news report, prompting him to take several steps, including a preliminary inquiry by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, judicial work being taken away from Justice Varma in the Delhi High Court, and later his transfer to the Allahabad High Court sans judicial work.
After the in-house inquiry panel indicted the judge, the CJI nudged him to resign and later wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Justice Varma refused to tender resignation.
On May 10, CJI-designate Justice B R Gavai also said no to any post-retirement assignments.
