Ashwani Kumar (born 26 October 1952) is an Indian politician and attorney who formerly served as

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the Indian states to the one of the two houses of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha). Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by the electoral college of the elected ...

representing the state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprisin ...

. He formerly served as Union

Minister of Law and Justice The Minister of Law and Justice is the head of the Ministry of Law and Justice and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India. The first Law and Justice Minister of independent India was B. R. Ambedkar, who served in first Nehru min ...

and Union Minister of State in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and

Ministry of Commerce and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

. In 1991, at the age of 37, he was appointed one of the youngest Additional Solicitor General of India. He has served as

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

party's National Spokesperson and Chairman of its ''Vichar Vibhag''. As a legal counsel, he has argued important cases before the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India (IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters e ...

, including the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, and has also represented major corporations in international arbitrations. He has been a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using ...

since 2002. He resigned from the

on February 15, 2022.

Early life and education

Born in Delhi on 26 October 1952, Ashwani Kumar graduated from

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

. Thereafter, he pursued law and earned

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from

Faculty of Law, University of Delhi The Faculty of Law, University of Delhi is the law department of the University of Delhi. It has the unique distinction of producing the largest number of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India. It is situated in the north campus of t ...

, and a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

from

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

, New Delhi. In 2004, he was awarded

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in law from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lah ...

Career

He has been the Additional Solicitor General of India and is an Associate Tenant as Counsel with the

Doughty Street Chambers Doughty Street Chambers is a British set of barristers' chambers situated in Bristol, Manchester and London's Doughty Street, undertaking criminal justice, public law, immigration, employment, human rights and civil liberties work. Doughty Stre ...

in London. He is engaged in the advocacy of human rights issues in and out of court.

Ministerial responsibilities

Ashwani Kumar was the Minister of Law and Justice from 28 October 2012 to 11 May 2013. From 19 January 2011 to 11 May 2013, he was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Planning; Ministry of Science and Technology; and Ministry of Earth Sciences. He was the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs from January to July 2011.

Special Envoy to Japan

In 2013, Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...

appointed him as his Special Envoy "to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges with Japan" and prepare for the upcoming visit of Japan's Emperor and the Empress to India.

Academia

In 2011, Kumar was the keynote speaker at the 8th Annual Meeting of the Science and Technology Forum (STS) at

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the cit ...

, Japan. He was a guest speaker at The Kennedy School of Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 2008. He was a visiting scholar at CSIS, Washington in 2004. In addition to writing a number of scholarly articles on law, economic reforms, elections, democracy and international affairs, Kumar has also authored a book titled ''Law, Ideas and Ideology in Politics; Perspectives of an Activist'' in 2003. In 2012, Kumar was the keynote speaker at the Harvard Club,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on "The Legal Architecture for consolidating the economic reform process in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

" and was also a guest lecturer at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

. In 2013, he was a speaker at the Aix Le Cercle des economists in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

, France, and was a distinguished fellow at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 2016. Kumar's second book, ''Hope in a Challenged Democracy - an Indian Narrative'', was published in 2017.

Membership of committees and key positions held

Kumar was appointed as Member of Standing Committee of Parliament on External Affairs in 2009. He also served as the Chairman of the Select Committee of

for "The Prevention of Torture Bill", 2010. He was a member of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Defense and a member of the Public Accounts Committee in 2013. In 2014, Kumar was appointed a member of the Co-ordination Committee of the INC in Rajya Sabha and a member of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the INC. Kumar has also been a member of the Empowered Sub-Committee of the High Level Committee on Manufacturing and the Standing Committee on Commerce. He has chaired the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests. In January 2015, Kumar was nominated as a Member of the General Purposes Committee of Rajya Sabha. He was also nominated as a Member of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence in January 2015. In 2014, Kumar was appointed as a Member of the National Literacy Mission. He was a Member of the Indian Ministerial delegation for the 3rd Indo-US Strategic Dialogue and the 1st Indo-Japan Economic Dialogue held in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, ...

. Kumar was the Founder President of the Indo-French Parliamentary Friendship Group constituted by the Speaker of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past- ...

in 2003. In November 2017, Kumar was appointed a Distinguished Fellow with the Global Federation of Competitiveness Council.

Nominations

In 2013, Kumar was nominated to represent India at the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

Session in

and made an address there. He also represented India at the Summer Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions (2011) in

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on the ...

, People's Republic of China.

Coalgate draft report controversy

Kumar was appointed to vet a draft report of

Ranjit Sinha Ranjit Sinha (27 March 1953 – 16 April 2021) was an Indian police officer and was the former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He was the Director General of Police of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Direct ...

, the Director of the CBI, in 2013. Submitted to the Supreme Court of India, this concerned the

Indian coal allocation scam The Coal allocation scam, dubbed in media as Coalgate, is a major political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector enterprise (PSEs) and private companies. In a draft report issued i ...

and led to opposition claims that the autonomy of the CBI was undermined. They demanded Kumar's resignation from the cabinet, which happened on 10 May 2013. Kumar said that he resigned only to ensure that the functioning of Parliament was not stalled and noted that the Supreme Court had not made any adverse comments against him.

Personal life

He married Madhu on 30 November 1975, with whom he had a son and daughter. Post retirement he had a trip to the United Kingdom in May/June 2022.

Publications

Among Kumar's publications are:

Books

* ''Ehsas-O-Izhar: An Anthology of Urdu Poetry '' (Publisher: Nyogi Book
The Hindu
https://www.jagran.com/delhi/new-delhi-city-manmohan-singh-17766597.html Jagran] * ''Hope in a Challenged Democracy: An Indian Narrative'' (Publisher: Wisdom Tree; ) * ''Law, Ideas and Ideology in Politics: Perspectives of an Activist'' (Publisher: HarAnand Publications; )

Honours

* Order of the Rising Sun, Order of the Rising Sun, 1st Class, Grand Cordon (2017)

References

External links

Profile on Indian Government Archives website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Ashwani 1952 births Indian National Congress politicians Living people Rajya Sabha members from Punjab, India St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Delhi University alumni Faculty of Law, University of Delhi alumni Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Law Ministers of India Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun