Hr bhardwaj biography
H. R. Bhardwaj
Indian politician (–)
Hansraj Bhardwaj (16 May – 8 March ) was an Indian politician who was Governor of Karnataka from to ; he also served as Governor of Kerala from until He was a member of the Indian National Congress. He holds the record of having the second longest tenure in Law Ministry since independence, after Ashoke Kumar Sen. He was the minister of state for nine years and a cabinet minister for law and justice for five years. At the end of his five-year term in , Governor of Tamil Nadu, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Konijeti Rosaiah replaced Bharadwaj as Governor of Karnataka.[2]
On 16 January , he was given the additional charge of Governor of Kerala,[3] which he abandoned on 9 March
Political career
Bhardwaj was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in April He served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice from 31 December to November and was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April He was then Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Planning and Programme Implementation from 21 June to 2 July and Minister of State in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs from 3 July to May He was again re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April and April , and from 22 May to 28 May he served as Union Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice.
Having previously represented Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, Bhardwaj was instead elected to the Rajya[4] Sabha from Haryana on 20 March , without opposition.[5]
Political deftness
Bhardwaj introduced the concept of rural courts (gram nyayalayas) during the UPA-I government, later to be discontinued by the government due to scarcity of funds.[citation needed]
A media shy minister, the old Gandhi family loyalist handled the most sensitive and controversial cases in the Manmohan Singh cabinet between and [citation needed]
From Bofors to office of profit and the failed attempt to remove Navin Chawla as election commissioner, were all deftly handled by the Congress veteran to the satisfaction of the Prime Minister and party leadership.[citation needed]
Controversies[citation needed]
Bofors scandal
In March , H. R. Bhardwaj was criticized for taking the initiative to de-freeze two bank accounts of Ottavio Quattrocchi, an accused in the Bofors Scam case. In particular, it appears he did not consult the investigating agency CBI which had gotten the accounts frozen.[6]
As Governor of Karnataka
In July , his comments on the powerful Bellary brothers, ministers in the B.S. Yeddyurappa government, particularly demanding their sacking for their alleged involvement in illegal mining generated a national debate. This was preceded by Bhardwaj rejecting the resignation of Lokayukta, Justice Hegde.[citation needed]
Bharadwaj also received much flak from the public and media for his unceremonious, scathing personal attack on Mysore university vice-chancellor V G Talawar when the latter was initiating action against former vice-chancellor J Shashidhar Prasad. Prasad is accused of committing irregularities in the recruitment of around professors and readers during his tenure between and which are yet to be proved.[citation needed]
On 21 January , Governor Bhardwaj sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister of Karnataka (Yeddyurappa) under Prevention of Corruption Act, following several allegations of his involvement in land scams and seizure of trucks carrying illegally mined iron ore.[7] However, on 7 March Karnataka High Court quashed this decision and the Lokayukta Police FIR. The court observed, "The petitioner was condemned unheard and there is flagrant violation of principles of natural justice, fairness in administrative action and statutory provision".[8] On 7 February , Bharadwaj withheld the approval of honorary doctorate by the Bangalore University to noted historian and Kannada writer M. Chidananda Murthy. Chidananda Murthy had backed justice BK Somasekhara Commission's report on church attacks in Karnataka in Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana , held in Bangalore, adopted a resolution to "condemn" the Governor's decision. Taking note of this, Bharadwaj agreed to give his approval after recommendations from Bangalore university syndicates.[9]
In May , Bhardwaj recommended President's rule in Karnataka after the ruling government lost support in the legislative assembly due to the level of charges brought against it and was forced to prove majority, having a very narrow win.[citation needed]
Trivia
Speaking at an Editors' Guild seminar, Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, narrated an incident involving Arun Shourie and Bhardwaj. During discussions that followed Rajiv Gandhi's Defamation Bill, Bhardwaj had asked Shourie to be more respectful in speaking since Bharadwaj had practiced law in Shourie's father's court in Rohtak. In response Shourie said "This much law should be known even to a mofussil lawyer like you".[citation needed]