Pune (Maharashtra), Mumbai, Feb 15 (IANS): Renowned legal luminary and former judge of the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court, Justice P.B. Sawant passed away here following a cardiac arrest, a family member said.

A former Chairman of Press Council of India, he was 90 and breathed his last at the family home here around 9.30 a.m.

Justice Sawant is survived by his wife Jayashree, a lawyer son Vishwajeet and two daughters Sujata and Rajashri, his grandson Aditya told IANS.

"Justice Sawant was a very ideal, public-minded and dignified person. He excelled in every field as a judge, as an activist, as a social worker... The manner in which he conducted himself in public life serves as an example to all of us," said retired Justice B.G. Kolse-Patil, a crusader and a personal friend of Justice Sawant.

Well-known activist lawyer Asim Sarode said Justice Sawant was a reformer in the socio-legal fields who regularly used to guide and mentor young lawyers, exhorting them to work for social justice through the legal profession.