Arun Jaitley | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2014 | |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 30 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | P. Chidambaram |
| Succeeded by | Nirmala Sitharaman |
| Minister of Corporate Affairs | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 30 May 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Sachin Pilot |
| Succeeded by | Nirmala Sitharaman |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 13 March 2017 – 3 September 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Manohar Parrikar |
| Succeeded by | Nirmala Sitharaman |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 9 November 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | A. K. Antony |
| Succeeded by | Manohar Parrikar |
| Minister of Information and Broadcasting | |
| In office 9 November 2014 – 5 July 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Prakash Javadekar |
| Succeeded by | Venkaiah Naidu |
| Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 26 May 2014 – 11 June 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Manmohan Singh |
| Succeeded by | Thawar Chand Gehlot |
| Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 June 2009 – 26 May 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Manmohan Singh |
| Rajya Sabha Chairperson | Mohammad Hamid Ansari |
| Deputy Leader | Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia |
| Preceded by | Jaswant Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ghulam Nabi Azad |
| Minister of Law and Justice | |
| In office 29 January 2003 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Jana Krishnamurthi |
| Succeeded by | H. R. Bhardwaj |
| In office 23 July 2000 – 1 July 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Ram Jethmalani |
| Succeeded by | Jana Krishnamurthi |
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | |
| In office 29 January 2003 – 22 May 2004 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Arun Shourie |
| Succeeded by | Kamal Nath |
| Minister of Information and Broadcasting | |
| In office 13 October 1999 – 30 September 2000 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Pramod Mahajan |
| Succeeded by | Sushma Swaraj |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 3 April 2000 – 24 August 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Naresh Agrawal |
| Succeeded by | Sudhanshu Trivedi[1][2] |
| Constituency |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-12-28)28 December 1952 |
| Died | 24 August 2019(2019-08-24) (aged 66) New Delhi, India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2; includingRohan Jaitley |
| Alma mater | Delhi University (B.Com,LLB) |
| Occupation |
|
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan (2020) (posthumously) |
| Website | www |
Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of theBharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister ofFinance andCorporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jaitley previously held the cabinet portfolios ofFinance,Defence, Corporate Affairs,Commerce and Industry, andLaw and Justice in theVajpayee government andNarendra Modi government.
From 2009 to 2014, he served as theLeader of the Opposition in theRajya Sabha. He was aSenior Advocate of theSupreme Court of India. He oversaw the introduction of theGoods and Services Tax which brought the country under one GST regime, demonetisation, merger of Railway budget with general budget and introduction ofInsolvency and Bankruptcy Code.[3][4][5] Jaitley decided not to join the second Modi Cabinet in 2019, due to health issues.[6][7]
He was awarded thePadma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, posthumously in 2020 in the field of Public Affairs.[8][9]
Arun Jaitley was born on 28 December 1952 in Delhi into aPunjabiBrahmin family which migrated fromLahore duringPartition of India.[10][11] His father Maharaj Kishen Jaitley was a lawyer and mother Ratan Prabha Jaitley a housewife.[10] He studied atSt. Xavier's Senior Secondary School, Delhi from 1957 to 1969.[12] He graduated with thehonours degree in commerce,B.Com fromShri Ram College of Commerce ofDelhi University in 1973. He passed hisLL.B. degree fromFaculty of Law, University of Delhi in 1977.[13][14][15]
Jaitley was theAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)student leader at theDelhi University Campus in the seventies and rose to be the President of theStudents Union ofDelhi University in 1974. During the period of proclamation ofInternal Emergency (1975–77) whenfundamental rights were suspended, he was underpreventive detention for a period of 19 months.[16] He was a prominent leader of amovement against corruption launched in the year 1973 byRaj Narain andJayaprakash Narayan. He was the convener of the National Committee for Students and Youth organisation appointed byJai Prakash Narayan.[17] He was also active in civil rights movement and helped found PUCL Bulletin along with Satish Jha and Smitu Kothari.[14][18] After being released from jail, he joined theJan Sangh.
In 1977, being the convener of the Loktantrik Yuva Morcha at a time when the Congress suffered defeat, Jaitley was appointed the president of the Delhi ABVP and All India Secretary of the ABVP. He was then made the president of the youth wing of the BJP and the secretary of the Delhi Unit in 1980, a short time after joining the party.[19]
Since 1977, Jaitley had been practising law in theSupreme Court of India and several High Courts in India.[20] In January 1990, he was designated as aSenior Advocate by theDelhi High Court.[21][22][23][24]
He was appointedAdditional Solicitor General of India by theV. P. Singh government in 1989 and did the paperwork for the investigations into theBofors scandal.[18][19] His clients cover the political spectrum fromSharad Yadav of theJanata Dal toMadhavrao Scindia of theIndian National Congress toL. K. Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several publications on legal and current affairs were written by him.[20] A paper on law about corruption and crime in India was presented by him, before the Indo-British Legal Forum.[20] He was appointed theGovernment of India's delegate to the United Nations General Assembly Session in June 1998 which approved the Declaration on Laws Relating to Drugs and Money Laundering.[21][20]
Jaitley had also appeared on behalf of giant multinational corporations such asPepsiCo againstCoca-Cola and in various other cases in India.[25][26] After having been the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, Jaitley represented Pepsi in 2002 in a case where the Supreme Court of India admonished and imposed stiff fines on 8 companies for painting advertisements on ecologically fragile rocks along the Manali-Rohtang road in theHimalayas. "The companies were also issued show-cause notices as to why exemplary damages should not be imposed on them for indulging in environmental vandalism."[27] In 2004, Jaitley appeared on behalf ofCoca-Cola in aRajasthan High Court case.[28]
Given his political duties as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley stopped practising law in June 2009.[29]
Jaitley had been a member of the national executive ofBharatiya Janata Party since 1991.[30] He became the spokesperson of the BJP during the period preceding the 1999 general election.
On 13 October 1999, after theVajpayee Government of the BJP ledNational Democratic Alliance came to power, he was appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge).[20] In addition he was appointed Minister of State for Disinvestment (Independent Charge). The disinvestment ministry was created for the first time in accordance with the policy of disinvestment under theWorld Trade Organization regime.[20] On 23 July 2000 following the resignation ofRam Jethmalani as the Union Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, he took over his ministry as an additional charge.[20]
In November 2000 Jaitley was made a Cabinet Minister for the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping. The Ministry of Surface Transport was bifurcated and he was appointed as the first Minister of Shipping. He demitted the office of the Minister for Shipping with effect from 1 September 2001 and as Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on 1 July 2002.[20] He then served as the General Secretary of the BJP and its national spokesman.[20] He worked in this capacity until January 2003. He rejoined the Union Cabinet as the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice on 29 January 2003.[19] With the defeat of the National Democratic Alliance in May 2004, Jaitley returned to his legal career and worked in the Supreme Court.[31]
He was chosen as theLeader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on 3 June 2009 byL.K. Advani. On 16 June 2009, he resigned from the post of General Secretary of the BJP, as per his party's One Man One Post principle. He was also a member of the Central Election Committee of the party.[32] As the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, he participated in the debates on theWomen's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha and also supported Anna Hazare in his2011 Indian anti-corruption movement for theJan Lokpal Bill.[19] He successfully introduced the 84th amendment to theConstitution of India in 2002, freezing parliamentary seats until 2026, and the ninety-first amendment to the Constitution of India in 2004, penalising defections.[33][34] However, being in the party since 1980, he never contested any direct election until 2014. He was the BJP candidate for theAmritsar seat in theLok Sabha (replacingNavjot Singh Sidhu) for the2014 general election, but lost to theIndian National Congress candidateAmarinder Singh. He was elected as aRajya Sabha member fromGujarat. He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in March 2018.[35]
On 26 August 2012, he said (outside Parliament) "There are occasions when an obstruction in Parliament brings greater benefits to the country." This statement was considered to have given legitimacy to obstruction by the parliament in contemporary Indian politics. After forming a government in 2014, the BJP government has faced disruption and obstruction in parliament multiple times, and the opposition have referred to this statement as a legitimising that floor strategy.[36][37]
On 26 May 2014, Jaitley was selected by newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the Minister of Finance, the Minister for Corporate Affairs and the Minister of Defence, in his cabinet.[38][39] Analysts cited Jaitley's "part-time" focus on defence as a simple continuation of the policies of the previous government.[40] According to a WikiLeaks cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, When raised on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley had argued that Hindu nationalism "will always be a talking point" for the BJP and characterised this as an opportunistic issue.[41] Jaitley later clarified that "the use of the word opportunistic in reference to nationalism or Hindu nationalism is neither my view nor my language. It could be the diplomat's own usage."[42]
During the2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, Arun Jaitley agreed with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's assertions that the idea of reservations on the basis of religion is fraught with danger and was against giving reservations to Muslim Dalits and Christian Dalits as it might impact demography.[43][44] He also served as a member to the Board of Governors ofAsian Development Bank.[45] In November 2015, Jaitley said that personal laws governing marriages and divorces should be subject to fundamental rights, as constitutionally-guaranteed rights are supreme.[46] He announced theIncome declaration scheme, 2016 in September 2016.[47]
During his tenure as the Finance Minister of India, the governmentdemonetised the ₹500 and ₹1000 currency notes, with the stated intention of curbing corruption, black money, fake currency, and terrorism from 9 November 2016.[48] He oversaw the introduction of theGoods and Services Tax (GST) which brought the country under one GST regime. On 20 June 2017, he reaffirmed that the roll-out of GST overseen by him as the finance minister was on track.[49]
Out Leadership recommended Arun Jaitley as one of the experts and leaders who openly speak onLGBT+ issues.[50]
On 29 May 2019, in a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Arun Jaitley cited his health as a reason for not taking an active role in the formation of the new government, effectively declining a role as a minister in the second term of Prime Minister Modi.[51]
In January 2019 Jaitley generated controversy when he accused theCentral Bureau of Investigation ofinvestigative adventurism in theICICI Bank –Videocon fraud case.[52] TheCentral Bureau of Investigation had namedChanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar as beneficiaries in the financial fraud, in whichVenugopal Dhoot, the promoter of Videocon had fraudulently transferred part of the loan received from ICICI Bank to the Kochhar's business entreprise.[53] Jaitley stated that naming the corrupt bank officials will not help in the investigation.[54] Previously in September 2012, Jaitley had warned CBI on corruption cases involving political leaders fromGujarat.[55]
Arun Jaitley married Sangeeta, daughter of formerJammu and Kashmir finance ministerGirdhari Lal Dogra, on 24 May 1982. They have two children, Sonali Jaitley andRohan Jaitley; the former married Jaiyesh Bakhshi.[56][20][57][58] Both his children are lawyers. He had two siblings.[59]
Jaitley had a series of health-related issues and underwent multiple surgeries leading into his deteriorating health and subsequent death in 2019. In 2005, he underwent acoronary artery bypass surgery after he was hospitalised withhigh blood pressure.[60] In 2014, when he weighed 117 kilograms (258 lb), agastric bypass surgery was performed on him aimed at reducing his weight. Doctors confirmed that Jaitley had been "suffering from diabetes for nearly two decades" then, and that the said procedure was the best option for patients with "uncontrolled diabetes".[61] In May 2018, he underwent akidney transplant surgery.[62]
In February 2019, the media reported that Jaitley had been diagnosed with a rare form ofsoft-tissue sarcoma and was undergoing treatment in the US, although it was termed a "regular medical check-up".[63] On 9 August, he was admitted to theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS) after he complained of "breathlessness".[64][65] On 17 August, it was reported that he was onlife-support.[66]
By 23 August, his health had deteriorated.[67] Jaitley died at 12:07 p.m. (IST) the following day, aged 66.[68][69] He wascremated atNigam Bodh Ghat on 25 August.[70] TheIndian Cricket team wore black armbands for a day during the test match withthe West Indies, to condole Jaitley's death.[71]
On 12 September 2019, Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla stadium was renamed asArun Jaitley Stadium at a function held atJawaharlal Nehru Stadium in memory of Jaitley. The decision to name the stadium after him came as he was once the president ofDDCA and also the vice-president of theBCCI.[72][73]
On 28 December 2020, Home MinisterAmit Shah unveiled a statue of Arun Jaitley at theArun Jaitley Stadium.[74]
Coming from a Punjabi Brahmin family with little political background ......
| Departments |
|  | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretaries |
| |||||||||||||||||
| Finance ministers |
| |||||||||||||||||
| Ministers of state for finance | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Economic Advisor | ||||||||||||||||||
| Finance commissions | ||||||||||||||||||
| | |
| | |
| | |
| Arts |
|
|---|---|
| Civil service |
|
| Literature and education |
|
| Medicine | |
| Other | |
| Public affairs |
|
| Science and engineering |
|
| Social work | |
| Sports | |
| Trade and industry | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
