Shanti Bhushan (1925–2023) was an Indian politician, legal activist and jurist who practiced as a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India. Bhushan served as the Law Minister of India in the Morarji Desai cabinet from 1977 to 1979. On 31 January 2023, Shanti Bhushan died at his home in Delhi after a brief illness.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Shanti Bhushan was born on Wednesday, 11 November 1925 (age 97 years at death) in Bijnor, United Province, British India (now Uttar Pradesh, India). Their zodiac sign is Scorpio. He is an alumnus of Ewing Christian College, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Early on, Shanti became deeply interested in law and argumentation and decided to pursue a career in law.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 7″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye colour: brown
Family
parents and siblings
Shanti Bhushan’s father, Vishwamitra, was a distinguished lawyer in the Allahabad High Court.
wife and children
Shanti Bhushan was married to Kumud Bhushan. They had two sons, Prashant Bhushan and Jayant Bhushan. Both of them are lawyers. They also had two daughters, Shalini Gupta and Shefali Bhushan.
Shanti Bhushan with his son Prashant Bhushan
Jayant Bhushan, son of Shanti Bhushan
livelihood
Advocate
As a lawyer, Shanti Bhushan defended his clients in many important cases and even took up various matters of public interest. With exceptional analytical skills, Shanti Bhushan surprised many senior advocates who were on the other side of the legal battle. Bhushan often mentioned the elements of honesty and simplicity in his similes, which made his presentations relatable even to a common man. Shanti Bhushan, one of the most expensive lawyers in the country, set a trend of charging high fees even for public interest cases.
Key Matters and Clients
- Shanti Bhushan represented veteran socialist leader Raj Narayan in an election petition filed against the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. Apparently, after losing the election to Gandhi in Rae Bareli, Raj Narayan filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court against Indira Gandhi, accusing her of electoral malpractices. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha convicted Gandhi in the case and declared his election to the Lok Sabha void. The court also disqualified him from contesting elections for six years. This decision led to a series of political crises in the country which ultimately led to the imposition of Emergency in India.
- In 1994, Shanti Bhushan defended two men who were accused of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings case.
- Bhushan argued for Arundhati Roy in the contempt case against her in the Supreme Court of India in 2002
- In 2008, he appeared as counsel for Shaukat Hussain Guru when he appealed against the ten-year sentence issued to him for his conviction in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
- In 2009, Bhushan represented Transparency International in the Uttar Pradesh Provident Fund (PF) scam, which allegedly involved some Indian judges. A three-judge bench of Justices BN Aggarwal, VS Sirpurkar and GS Singhvi left the hearing of the case after his “derogatory” comments. The bench described Bhushan’s behavior as that of a street vagabond.
- He also represented former Prime Minister of India HD Deve Gowda in a petition related to land allocation for the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway.
- Bhushan has also appeared for Rajendra Singh Lodha in connection with the Birla Corporation’s assets.
- In November 2010, Bhushan stuck to his allegation that there is corruption in the Indian judiciary. He refused to apologize to the Supreme Court, saying he was ready to go to jail for his contempt.
- In 2011, Shanti Bhushan met UDF leader R. Appeared in the Supreme Court as counsel for VS Achuthanandan in a corruption case against Balakrishna Pillai.
- Shanti also argued a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored investigation into the Rafale fighter aircraft deal.
Politics
Shanti Bhushan entered politics as a member of the Indian National Congress (Organization). He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha from 14 July 1977 to 2 April 1980. After a brief stint with the party, Shanti represented his client Raj Narayan in the Allahabad High Court, challenging Indira Gandhi’s election victory. After Bhushan won the case, Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in the state. In 1977, the Indian National Congress (organization) merged with the Janata Party. After the Emergency was lifted, the Janata Party came to power and Bhushan was appointed as the Law Minister of India in the Morarji Desai cabinet. He served in this post till 1979. During his tenure, he introduced the 42nd Amendment to the Indian Constitution, which repealed several provisions introduced by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was founded on 6 April 1980. Six years later, he resigned from the BJP after the party failed to follow his advice on an election petition. In 2011, Bhushan associated himself with the anti-corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare. He was one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012 and acted as a mentor for the then fledgling party.
Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan with Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare
In 2013, tension arose between Bhushan and senior party leaders as he was against the decision to form a minority government with the support of the Congress. However, their differences were resolved when Arvind Kejriwal decided to step down as CM after running his government in Delhi for 49 days. Bhushan played an important role in paving the way for the arrival of Aam Aadmi Party on the national stage. Talking about Bhushan’s role and responsibilities in AAP, a former senior party member in an interview said,
He was an active part of all the major meetings held initially, where the constitution and structure of the party were discussed. He was a well-known lawyer who was highly respected in legal circles, and also provided guidance to the party on legal positions and issues related to the core issue of anti-corruption.
After three years he resigned from the party.
Other work
In 2008, Shanti Bhushan wrote a book titled Courting Destiny: A Memoir, in which she shared her life experiences. Later he also released the book My Second Innings.
legal activism
Shanti Bhushan was a vocal activist against corruption. In the 1980s, Bhushan, along with VM Tarkunde, Fali Sam Nariman, Anil Dewan, Rajinder Sachar and Colin Gonsalves, founded the Center for Public Interest Litigation, a non-governmental organization that litigates public interest matters. . He was actively involved in pressing for accountability in the Indian judiciary by founding the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reforms (CJAR). In 2018, Bhushan filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging the roster practice of allocation of cases by the Chief Justice of India. The court in its judgment rejected the contention that the Chief Justice of India was the ‘master of the roster’ and had the prerogative and authority to allocate cases to different benches of the apex court.
Death
Shanti Bhushan died at his home in Delhi on 31 January 2023 at around 7 pm due to age-related ailments. His age was 97 years. Condoling his demise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter,
Shri Shanti Bhushan ji will be remembered for his contributions to the legal field and passion for speaking up for the underprivileged. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his family. Calmness.”
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also expressed grief over Bhushan’s demise. He tweeted,
My deepest condolences to the family members on his demise. My prayers for the departed soul. Calmness.”
Facts/General Knowledge
- Shanti Bhushan was certainly one of the greatest lawyers of Allahabad.
- Apparently, Shanti Bhushan donated Rs. On the day the party was established, Aam Aadmi Party received Rs 1 crore.
- Known for his punctuality and sympathetic arguments, Bhushan was never afraid to speak his mind. According to one of his colleagues, he could even take on the judges and the judges paid special attention to his arguments.
- According to one of his fellow practitioners, Bhushan once made a list of ‘corrupt judges’ and submitted it to the Supreme Court.
- Reportedly, her parents named her Shanti because she was born to commemorate the end of the First World War.
- When Shanti Bhushan was 37 years old, he was offered the post of judge by the Allahabad High Court. Although he accepted the offer, he could not become a judge because the minimum age limit for the post of High Court judge was raised to 40 years by the then Chief Justice of India, PB Gajendragadkar. After turning 40, he was offered judgeship twice. However, Bhushan rejected it.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn