Shanti Bhushan

Shanti Bhushan Biography

Shanti Bhushan is a former politician and Law Minister of India inMorarji Desai’s cabinet during the period 1977 to 1979. One of the most influential Indian personalities since 1970s, he currently is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India. Noted Indian lawyer, activist and politician of AamAadmi Party, PrashantBhushan is his son. As a politician, Shanti Bhushan has been associated with Indian National Congress, later the Janata Party and finally Bharatiya Janata Party, till he quit in 1986.

He was born on 11 November 1925 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He completed his graduation from Ewing Christian College, Allahabad. As a politician he was associated with Indian National Congress first. In the 1970s he joined Janata Dal and rose to prominence in a short period. He was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1977 for Janata Dal and got place in Morarji Desai’s ministry. He was chosen as the Union Minister of Law, a position he held till 1979. He was a member of Rajya sabha till 1980. He joined BJP in 1980 and was associated with the party for 6 years till he resigned in 1986.

Apart from political career, he has been a prominent lawyer associated with many sensational cases and he is a social activist as well. Some of the sensitive cases he handled include – case against Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi representing Raj Narain, 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case in 1994, V.S. Achuthanandan’sIdamalayar Dam corruption case against UDF leader R.BalakrishnaPillai etc. He served as the counsel for many personalities like Arundhati Roy in 2002, H. D. DeveGowda etc. He is one of the founders of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation and was also involved with the setup of CJAR.

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Updated: November 02, 2015