Constitutional Stalwart Subhash C. Kashyap Dies at 97

• Former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C. Kashyap dies at 97
• Served Parliament for more than 37 years across nine Lok Sabhas
• Member of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ committee led by Ram Nath Kovind
• Author of over 100 books and recipient of the Padma Bhushan

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th June: Former Lok Sabha Secretary General and renowned constitutional expert Subhash C. Kashyap passed away on Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 97.

Kashyap breathed his last around 10 a.m. at his residence in Delhi’s Sainik Farm area. Officials of the Lok Sabha Secretariat said he had been suffering from age-related ailments and died due to cardio-pulmonary arrest.

A distinguished scholar, parliamentarian and author, Kashyap was widely regarded as one of India’s foremost authorities on the Constitution and parliamentary affairs. He recently served as a member of the high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind to prepare the legal framework for simultaneous elections, popularly known as the ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative.

Kashyap served as the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha from 1983 to 1990 and remained associated with Parliament for more than 37 years. His parliamentary career spanned from the first Lok Sabha under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to the Ninth Lok Sabha, making him one of the longest-serving parliamentary officials in the country’s history.

Born in 1929 in Chadpur, Bijnor district of present-day Uttar Pradesh, into a family of freedom fighters, Kashyap actively participated in the Independence movement during his teenage years, leading student movements in Bijnor and Meerut.

He pursued higher education and professional training in Allahabad, New Delhi, Washington D.C., London and Geneva. Before joining Parliament, he worked as a journalist, served as an assistant professor at the University of Allahabad and underwent legal training at the Allahabad High Court.

Kashyap authored more than 100 books on constitutional law, governance, parliamentary democracy and public policy. His writings became essential reference material for lawmakers, scholars and students of political science.

For his contributions to public life and constitutional scholarship, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan.

Following his voluntary retirement from Parliament, Kashyap continued to contribute to public policy and governance. He served as Honorary Constitutional Advisor to the Government of India on Panchayati Raj laws and was a member and chairman of the drafting committee of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed grief over his demise and described it as a profound loss to Indian parliamentary democracy, constitutional discourse and public life.

Tributes have poured in from political leaders, constitutional experts and parliamentary colleagues, who remembered Kashyap as a towering intellectual figure whose contributions significantly shaped India’s democratic institutions and constitutional understanding.