Shanti Bhushan (1925–2023) was an Indian politician, legal activist and lawyer who served as a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India. Bhushan served as India’s Law Minister from 1977 to 1979 in Morarji Desai’s cabinet. On January 31, 2023, Shanti Bhushan passed away at her home in Delhi after a brief illness.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Shanti Bhushan was born on Wednesday 11 November 1925 (age 97 at death) in Bijnor, United Provinces, British India (now Uttar Pradesh, India). His zodiac sign is Scorpio. He is a graduate of Ewing Christian College, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Early on, Shanti showed a keen interest in law and reasoning and decided to pursue a career in law.
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′7″
Hair color: salt and pepper
Eye color: brown
family
parents and siblings
Shanti Bhushan’s father, Vishwamitra, was a prominent advocate in the Allahabad High Court.
wife and children
Shanti Bhushan married Kumud Bhushan. He had two sons, Prashant Bhushan and Jayant Bhushan. Both of them are lawyers. He also had two daughters, Shalini Gupta and Shefali Bhushan.
Shanti Bhushan with her son Prashant Bhushan
Shanti Bhushan’s son Jayant Bhushan
Career
Lawyer
As an advocate, Shanti Bhushan has defended his clients in several important cases and has also taken up various public interest cases. With exceptional analytical skills, Shanti Bhushan has impressed many senior lawyers who have been on the other side of legal battles. Bhushan often noted elements of honesty and simplicity in his analogies, which made his sentences coherent even for laymen. One of the country’s most expensive lawyers, Shanti Bhushan has bucked the trend of charging high fees even for public interest cases.
Outstanding cases and clients
- Shanti Bhushan represented veteran socialist leader Raj Narain in an election petition against the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. Raj Narain appears to have filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court against Indira Gandhi, accusing her of electoral malpractice after she lost the election to Gandhi in Rae Bareli. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha found Gandhi guilty in the case and declared his election to the Lok Sabha void. The court also disqualified him from competition for six years. The decision led to a series of political crises in the country, which eventually led to the imposition of a state of emergency in India.
- In 1994, Shanti Bhushan defended two men accused of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.
- Bhushan argued Arundhati Roy in a 2002 contempt case against him in the Supreme Court of India.
- In 2008, he appeared as Shaukat Hussain Guru’s lawyer in his appeal against the ten-year sentence he was given for the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
- In 2009, Bhushan represented Transparency International in the Uttar Pradesh Provident Fund (PF) scandal, which allegedly implicated several Indian judges. A three-judge bench comprising Justices BN Agrawal, VS Sirpurkar and GS Singhvi left the case after his “disgraceful” remarks. The bench termed Bhushan’s behavior as a street urchin.
- He also represented former Indian Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in a petition related to allotment of land for the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway.
- Bhushan also appeared for Rajendra Singh Lodha in connection with the assets of Birla Corporation.
- In November 2010, Bhushan stood by his allegations that there was corruption in the Indian judiciary. He refused to apologize in the Supreme Court and said he was prepared to be jailed for his contempt.
- In 2011, Shanti Bhushan appeared in the Supreme Court as counsel for VS Achuthanandan against UDF leader R. In the corruption case of Balakrishna v. Pillai.
- Shanti also argued a PIL in the Supreme Court demanding a court-monitored probe into the Rafale fighter jet 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 in the party, Shanti represented his client Raj Narain 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 India’s Law Minister in Morarji Desai’s cabinet. He served in this position until 1979. During his tenure, he introduced the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution of India, which repealed many 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 act on his advice on an election petition. In 2011, Bhushan associated himself with an anti-corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare. He was one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012 and served as a guide for the then fledgling party.
Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant Bhushan with Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare
In 2013, tensions arose between Bhushan and senior party officials as he opposed the decision to form a minority government with Congress support. However, their differences were resolved after Arvind Kejriwal resigned as CM after his government had been in office for 49 days in Delhi. Bhushan was instrumental in bringing the Aam Aadmi Party to the national stage. In an interview, a former senior party member said about Bhushan’s role and responsibilities in AAP:
He was an active participant in the initial meeting of all major meetings where the constitution and structure of the party was discussed. He was an ace lawyer who was highly respected in legal circles and also led the party in legal positions and anti-corruption issues.”
He left the party three years later.
other work
In 2008, Shanti Bhushan wrote the book “Fate’s Love: A Memoir” in which she shared her life experiences. Later he also released a book called My Second Innings.
Legal activism
Shanti Bhushan has been a vocal activist against corruption. In the 1980s, Bhushan along with VM Tarkunde, Fali Sam Nariman, Anil Divan, Rajinder Sachar and Colin Gonsalves founded the Center for Public Interest Litigation, an NGO that conducts public interest litigation. He was actively involved in pressing for the accountability of the Indian judiciary, organizing the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reform (CJAR). In 2018, Bhushan filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of India, challenging the Chief Justice of India’s case allocation practice. The court ruled in its judgment that the Chief Justice of India was a “resonant master” and had the prerogative and authority to transfer cases to different benches of the high court.
death
On January 31, 2023, around 7 PM, Shanti Bhushan died at her home in Delhi due to age-related ailments. He was 97 years old. On his death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and wrote:
Shri Shanti Bhushan Ji will be remembered for his contributions to the legal field and his passion for speaking up for the underprivileged. I am saddened by his death. Condolences to his family. Om Shanti”.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also expressed grief over Bhushan’s death. He tweeted,
My condolences to the family members on his death. My prayer for the soul of the deceased. Om Shanti”.
Facts/Trivia
- Shanti Bhushan was certainly one of the most senior lawyers in Allahabad.
- Shanti Bhushan appears to have donated Rs. 1 crore of Aam Aadmi Party on the party’s foundation day.
- Known for his punctuality and empathetic arguments, Bhushan was never afraid to speak his mind. One of his compatriots says that he could even compete with the judges, and the judges paid special attention to his arguments.
- According to one of his practitioners, Bhushan once compiled a list of “corrupt judges” and submitted it to the Supreme Court.
- According to reports, his parents named him Shanti (peace) because he was born on the day World War I ended.
- Shanti Bhushan was offered judgeship by the Allahabad High Court when he was 37 years old. Although he accepted the offer, he could not become a judge because the minimum age limit for the post of a High Court judge was raised to 40 years by the then Chief Justice of India, PB Gajendragadkar. After he turned 40, he was offered refereeing twice. However, Bhushan refused him.
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Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
