Who was Shanti Bhushan? The legendary advocate who won a case against ex-PM Indira Gandhi

Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan passed away at the age of 97 on Tuesday. Shanti Bhushan served as the Law Minister from 1977 to 1979, and was recognised as one of the giants of India’s legal system.

Shanti's son Prashant Bhushan is also a senior Supreme Court lawyer who was one of the founding members of the Swaraj Abhiyan in 2015.

Who was Shanti Bhushan?

Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan started his political career with the Congress (O) before he joined the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party.

He was a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court and also a member of the Bharatiye Janata Party from 1980 to 1986 before resigning from the BJP.

As the Law minister, Shanti Bhushan introduced Forty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, which repealed many provisions of Forty-second Amendment passed by the Indira Gandhi ministry.

Famous cases fought by Shanti Bhushan

Bhushan represented Raj Narain in a case against Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha judged Indira Gandhi guilty and declared her election to the Lok Sabha void.[6] 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.

In 2002, he appeared as a counsel for Arundhati Roy in a contempt case against her in the Supreme Court of India.

Bhushan represented Shaukat Hussain in 2008 for an appeal against his 10-year conviction for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.

Bhushan appeared as senior counsel for Transparency International in the Provident Fund scandal case of Ghaziabad, which allegedly involved several judges of the Indian judiciary.