Senior advocate and Vaish Associates founder OP Vaish passed away this morning after heart bypass surgery and a brief illness.

He died of a cardiac arrest this morning, aged 82.

Vaish founded the firm in 1971 after working in the Indian Revenue Service and as chief, economics & law, at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

Vaish Associates Delhi tax partner Rupesh Jain commented: “[OP] Vaish was a father figure and his loss is a thing, that void which is left, will be very difficult to fill. He was the one who founded the firm, guided us through and was active till the very last.

“It’s a terrible loss for the firm and each person of the firm. He was of course very well known professionally, but more than that he was a great humanitarian. Of course not many people know through the kind of humanitarian work he did, through [the] Rotary [Club] and otherwise. He was a great human being.”

Jain added that OP Vaish had spearheaded efforts to battle polio in India and was a pioneer in international taxation in India, having brought the International Fiscal Association to the country in the early eighties. “His contribution professionally and in the field of social work is immense.”

As a person, he was very humble and down to earth, said Jain. “You could approach him with anything - any person, the most junior most person, his doors were always open, at any point in time, for any type of guidance. He was always approachable… What Mahatma Gandhi was to the nation, Mr Vaish was to the firm.”

Vaish is survived by his wife Manju Vaish, his son Vinay Vaish, who is a partner at Vaish Associates, his five daughters and his son-in-law Ajay Vohra, who is the firm’s managing partner. The firm now includes around 90 lawyers.