Eminent lawyer and former law minister Shanti Bhushan no more

Delhi: Former law minister and acclaimed lawyer Shanti Bhushan passed away at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday following a brief illness.

He was 97 years old.

Bhushan famously represented politician Raj Narain in the historic case that led to the annulment of then prime minister Indira Gandhi's election in 1975. In the case, the Allahabad High Court in its verdict in June 1975 disqualified Gandhi for a period of six years from contesting elections.

The plea was filed by freedom fighter and politician Raj Narain, who had unsuccessfully contested the 1971 Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh against her, accusing her of corrupt electoral practices.

Gandhi had moved the Supreme Court against the high court verdict. It triggered a series of events culminating in the imposition of Emergency on June 25, 1975.

Bhushan, who was also a senior advocate, served as the law minister from 1977 to 1979 in the Morarji Desai cabinet.

Bhushan, whose sons Jayant and Prashant Bhushan are leading lawyers, was active in the legal profession till recently and had argued on a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said he was deeply pained by the news of Bhushan's passing away. "My deepest condolences to the family members on his passing away. My prayers for the departed soul. Om Shanti," he wrote on Twitter.

Shanti Bhushan had also filed a plea in the apex court challenging the roster practice of allocation of cases by the Chief Justice of India.

In its verdict on his plea, the top court had in July 2018 maintained that the Chief Justice of India is "the master of the roster" and has the prerogative and authority to allocate cases to different benches of the apex court.

In November 2010, Shanti Bhushan stuck to his sensational allegation that there was corruption in the judiciary and refused to apologise to the Supreme Court asserting he was willing to be jailed for contempt.

He had made the remarks when the apex court had asked whether he and his son Prashant were willing to tender an apology to avoid being hauled up for contempt.

In his political career, he was a member of the Congress (O) and later of the Janata Party. He served as a Rajya Sabha member too. He also had a six-year stint with the BJP.

He was vocal on the issue of corruption and was among the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party, which he later quit.

(With PTI inputs)