Shanti Bhushan

Shanti Bhushan (11 November 1925 – 31 January 2023)

Bhushan was an active member of the Congress (O) party and later the Janata Party. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 14 July 1977 to 2 April 1980 and held office of Union Law Minister in the Morarji Desai ministry from 1977 to 1979. As the Law minister, he introduced Forty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, which repealed many provisions of Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India passed by the Indira Gandhi ministry.^{[citation needed]}

He joined the

• Bhushan represented
  Jagmohan Lal Sinha judged Indira Gandhi guilty and declared her election to the Lok Sabha void.^[9] The decision resulted in widespread political protests and ultimately resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency
  in India.
• In 1994, he appeared for two of the defendants accused of participating in the
  1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.^[10]
• In 2002, he appeared as a counsel for Arundhati Roy in a contempt case against her in the Supreme Court of India.^[11]
• Bhushan represented Shaukat Hussain in 2008 for an appeal against his 10-year conviction for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.^[12]
• Bhushan appeared as senior counsel for
  Ghaziabad, which allegedly involved several judges of the Indian judiciary. The bench abandoned the hearing after deeming his remarks as contemptuous and termed his behavior as that of a street urchin.^[13][14]
• Shanti Bhushan was the counsel for the former Prime Minister of India
  Bangalore - Mysore Infrastructure Corridor.^[15]
• He has represented Rajendra Singh Lodha regarding the assets of Birla Corporation.^[16]
• He represented
  R.Balakrishna Pillai and others. The bench awarded rigorous imprisonment for one year with fine of Rs. 10,000/- each to the accused persons.^[17]

In the late 1980s Shanti Bhushan was one of the founders of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, a Non-governmental organization that conducts litigation on matters of public interest. The first president was Justice V. M. Tarkunde, who was also the founder of the People's Union for Civil Liberties. Other founder members were senior advocates including

Shanti Bhushan, along with his son Prashant Bhushan has been involved in pressing for accountability in the Indian Judiciary by setting up Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reform (CJAR).^[19] The campaign has been responsible for action against the judicial misconduct of Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal^[20] and for the declaration of assets by the judges.^[21] The campaign had also protested against the actions and appointments of Justice S. Ashok Kumar, Madan Mohan Punchhi, Soumitra Sen and Ashwini Kumar Mata.^[22][23] In December 2009 the

The father-son duo are currently^[needs update] facing charges for contempt of court in Supreme Court of India for their statement about corruption in higher judiciary - specifically, about the corruption of former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court.^[25] During a hearing on the running case for contempt of court in November 2010, Shanti Bhushan went on to say, "The question of apology does not arise. I am prepared to go to jail."^[26]

Shanti Bhushan was a prominent member of the core committee of India Against Corruption.^[27] The first Lokpal Bill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969, but did not pass through the Rajya Sabha.^[28] Shanti Bhushan was a member of the Joint Drafting Committee for the Jan Lokpal Bill, constituted by the Government of India, representing the Civil Society.^[29]

Works

• Courting Destiny: A Memoir (2008)^[30]

See also

• Jan Lokpal Bill

References