Former Law Minister and Justice of India, Shanti Bhushan died at the age of 97 on Tuesday evening.
Shanti Bhushan was recognised as one of the giants of India’s legal system who served as the law minister in the Janata party government from 1977 to 1979, and was a crusader for justice and civil liberties in the country.
“All I can say is that this is the end of an era. He was a person who saw the evolution of the Constitution and the legal system from close quarters since Independence.
"He wrote about these experiences in two books – Courting Destiny and My Second Innings. All I can say is that this is an immense loss for all of us,” Supreme Court lawyer and Shanti's son Prashant Bhushan told Indian Express on his father's demise.
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As the Law minister, Shanti Bhushan introduced Forty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India, which repealed many provisions of Forty-second Amendment passed by the Indira Gandhi ministry.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 and won the historic electoral malpractice case against then-PM Indira Gandhi, who was declared guilty and declared her election to the Lok Sabha void. The decision resulted in widespread political protests and ultimately a state of Emergency was declared 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 author and activist Arundhati Roy in a contempt case against her in the Supreme Court of India.
Bhushan also 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.
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