Bhairab Dutt Pande

Bhairab Dutt Pande (17 March 1917 – 2009) was a member of the Indian Civil Service and Union Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India under Indira Gandhi. He served as the Governor of West Bengal (1981–1983), and Punjab (1983–1984), and the Administrator of Chandigarh for a brief period.

Born in Almora, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Pande served as a Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government from 2 November 1972 to 31 March 1977. When President's rule was imposed on Punjab, he served as the governor of the state.

Pande was married to Vimla Pande. environmentalist Lalit Pande, and Ratna Pande. His brother-in-laws were Vinod Chandra Pande, a former governor and Union Cabinet Secretary and Govind Chandra Pande a Padmi Shri and noted scholar and historian.

He was one of the last living members of the Imperial Civil Service, having entered in the 1939 batch.

The Government of India awarded Pande the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1972, for his contributions to Indian society and the Padma Vibhushan in 2000.

He is author of his famous autobiography book released after 5 years of his demise as per his wish name “In the Service of Free India” Memoir of a civil servant, by B D Pande.