I was born in New Delhi in a family of Lawyers, Social Activists, and Philanthropists.
My father Maharaj Kishen Jaitley was a lawyer. We used to stay in Naraina Vihar, New Delhi where I spent most part of my childhood. My mother Ratan Prabha was a housewife who devoted her spare time to social work. I have two sisters, both elder to me. My parents migrated to Delhi from Lahore.
I joined the St.Xavier's School. As a young student, I was enthusiastic about my studies, competitions such as debates, and also played sports such as cricket. I continued my Indian School Certificate at St.Xavier's School. My days at St. Xavier's are the most memorable; because here I moulded my thoughts, which later on shaped my political vision.
I joined Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) for my graduation. This college truly laid the foundation of my professional career. I made some of my dearest friends in the campus. I was a multilingual debater and the president of my college student's union.
I joined LLB at Delhi University. It was a very transformational experience with my friends and faculty members were great. I was quite at home with law as I was passionate about becoming a lawyer from my early childhood-inspired by my father. This was also significant as it marked my entry in to the realm of politics.
I admired JP and at his clarion call, I joined the moment against corruption by the then ruling powers. JP led the movement against corruption to create awareness among the public about the misgovernance and corruption in high places for which Congress had acquired an ignominious reputation in hardly 25 years of achieving independence. JP appointed me as the Convener of the Coordination Committee of the Youth and Student organizations.
I contested and won the election to the post of the president of the Delhi University student's union. In an era where Congress Party had a strangle hold over university campuses, my election as an ABVP candidate marked a watershed in the student politics in the Country.
The imposition of Emergency is by far the darkest chapter in our democracy. The suspension of civil liberties represented a draconian mindset of the British Raj. Like every right thinking citizen, I raised my voice against this grossly undemocratic step. I escaped arrest in the early hours of 26th June 1975 and organized the first protest against the Emergency that day and was arrested. I underwent imprisonment for 19 months in the Tihar Jail. The days in Jail unraveled the different facets of life before me as a interacted with people coming from diverse back grounds. It gave me a certain insight in to the working of the human mind, which would stand me in good stead in my later life.
The 1977 General Elections inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Congress and for the first time, created the space for a credible opposition in the country, bringing an end to unilateralism in our polity. I took part in the campaigning all over the country. I was the national convener of the Loktantrik Yova Morcha formed to campaign for the Janta Party.
I became the president of the Delhi ABVP and the all-India secretary of the ABVP.
I began my practice before the courts in Delhi. I practiced from the Trial Court, the High Court, and the Supreme Court of India. In January 1990, I became a senior advocate and became the Additional Solicitor General of India at 37 years. While in practice, I handled many important cases and some of them have come to become landmark judgments in their own right.
I joined the BJP having been earlier a member of ABVP.
I became the president of the Youth Wing of the BJP and the secretary of its Delhi unit.
I married Sangeeta Jaitley, daughter of Shri Giridhar Lal Dogra and Smt. Shakuntala Dogra
Birth of daughter Ms. Sonali Jaitley, who is now a lawyer.
Birth of Son Rohan Jaitley who is now a lawyer.
I was appointed the Additional Solicitor General of India in 1990. As the ASG, I was entrusted the BOFORs case, which had shaken the collective conscience of the nation then. The BOFORS investigation was very unique; as for the first time cross-border transactions were investigated on a large scale.
I became member of the National Executive of the BJP.
Member, Indian Delegation to the UN General Assembly, where the Declaration on laws relating to Drugs and Money laundering were adopted.
I became the Spokesperson of BJP during the 1998-1999 General Elections. It was a very rich experience as I got the opportunity of positioning the BJP as the main protagonist of the opposition space in our democracy.
I took oath as Minister of State (independent charge) of the department of Information and Broadcasting
I was given additional charge of the newly created Department of Disinvestment and became the first minister of state for Disinvestment. The first ever disinvestment of PSU was carried out successfully during this period.
I was elected the President of the Delhi and district Cricket Assosciation. In 2009, I was elected the Vice President of BCCI.
I was elected as a Member of Rajya Sabha for the first time from Gujarat.
I became minister of state (independent charge) with the department of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs
I was elevated as the Cabinet Minister for Law, Justice, and Company Affairs
During this period as Law Minister, I introduced many amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Companies Act. I also got the first ever Competition Bill, 2003 passed in the Parliament. I also brought about electoral reforms and judicial reforms. I got the Advocates Welfare Fund set up. I got the Investor Protection Fund set up. I implemented the scheme for setting up 1734 Fast Track Courts with the intent of relieving the logjam of cases in the lower judiciary. I also paid special attention to the Computerization of the Courts. I brought in amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act and the Negotiable Instruments Act to facilitate expeditious disposal of cases. I brought in amendments in the Marriage Laws to remove the outdated ceilings on compensation to women. High courts of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Utrakhand were inaugurated.
I was given the additional charge under the Ministry of Shipping. I paid special attention to modernization of Ports by upgrading berths and introducing new berths so as to improve the efficiency by reducing the turnaround time.
General Secretary of the BJP
I became the Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and, Company Affairs for the second term and also became the Cabinet Minister of Industries and Commerce.
As the Commerce Minister, led Indian Delegation for the WTO conference in Cancun, Mexico.
The WTO negotiations were in a critical state when I took over as the Commerce Minister. The US and EU were pressing for deep cuts in tariffs of agricultural commodities so as to enable them to gain market access to Indian consumers. But any such concession by India would have jeopardized the livelihood of 650 million farmers of India. Therefore, an all out diplomatic effort was launched in co-ordination with other likeminded countries such as Brazil, South Africa and China and the G-20 group was formed, which worked like a counter weight to balance the pressures exerted by USA and EU. India successfully averted the signing of an agreement that would have harmed the Indian farmer by resisiting immense pressure from the USA and the EU. It was a great moment of personal satisfaction that India literally walked away from the brink of a disastrous international agreement that had many elements of destroying Indian agriculture and industry while not granting any substantial concessions to sectors where India stood to gain. I visited various countries such as Brazil, China, Thailand, Mynamar, Japan ,Egypt, UAE, Israel, UK, Germany, France, Cambodia, USA, and Mexico on my trade missions.
Re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat
I was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for a fresh term from Gujarat. I was again accorded recognition as the Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha on 3rd April 2012. I took oath on 24th April 2012 as Rajya Sabha Member for my 3rd term.
As Leader of Opposition, I have focused on the efforts to position BJP as a party, which plays a pro-active role in the democratic functioning of the country. Thus, all steps have been taken to expose deficit of governance; be it various corruption scandals such as the 2G spectrum scam, the Common Wealth Games scam, the Antrix-Devas deal, or the failure on the economic front to rein in spiraling inflation and to a stable environment for investments and growth. The Party played a very constructive role while passing the historic Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha. Similarly, the Party kept the government under scrutiny while passing the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. The Party supported the Anna Hazare movement for bringing in a strong and effective Lok Pal and successfully resisted the passing in the Rajya Sabha of a weak bill passed by Lok Sabha.
