H.R. Bharadwaj, India’s second longest serving Law Minister, former Karnataka Governor and veteran Congress leader, passed away after a cardiac arrest here on Sunday. He was 83 and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. He had been admitted to a private hospital here for kidney-related ailments.
Mr. Bharadwaj first entered the Rajya Sabha in 1982, and was elected to the Upper House five times. He was Minister of State for Law and Justice in the governments led by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao until he became a Cabinet Minister holding that portfolio between 2004 and 2009 in the Manmohan Singh Ministry.
Mr. Bharadwaj’s start in politics came in the late 1970s when he came into contact with Indira Gandhi. He enjoyed a position of trust with most of the Prime Ministers he served under and was known for some deft political handling of legal challenges facing the government.
As Law Minister, he introduced gram ‘nyayalayas’, or rural courts, but it was his political handling of certain other cases such as defreezing of Ottavio Quattrochi’s bank accounts, made famous in the Bofors case, that made the headlines.
In 2009, he was made Governor of Karnataka where he accorded sanction to prosecute Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in the Bellary mining case.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled Mr. Bharadwaj’s death.
