Hansraj Bhardwaj (16 May 1939 – 8 March 2020) was an Indian politician who was

Governor of Karnataka The Governor of Karnataka is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Karnataka. The governor is appointed by the president of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head ...

from 2009 to 2014; he also served as

Governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the president of India for a term of five years and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de j ...

from 2012 until 2013. He was a member of the

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 Em ...

. He holds the record of having the second longest tenure in Law Ministry since independence, after

Ashoke Kumar Sen Ashoke Kumar Sen (10 October 1913 – 21 September 1996) was an Indian barrister, a former Cabinet minister of India, and an Indian parliamentarian. He also holds the record for winning a Lok Sabha seat the most times and also the record for b ...

. 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 2014,

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by th ...

, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

Konijeti Rosaiah Konijeti Rosaiah (4 July 1933 – 4 December 2021) was an Indian politician who served as the List of chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 15th chief minister of United Andhra Pradesh from 2009 to 2010. He also served as the Governor of Karnataka ...

replaced Bharadwaj as

. On 16 January 2012, he was given the additional charge of

, which he abandoned on 9 March 2013.

Political career

Bhardwaj was first elected to 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 si ...

in April 1982. He served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice from 31 December 1984 to November 1989 and was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1988. He was then Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Planning and Programme Implementation from 21 June 1991 to 2 July 1992 and Minister of State in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs from 3 July 1992 to May 1996. He was again re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 and April 2000, and from 22 May 2004 to 28 May 2009 he served as Union Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice. Having previously represented

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

in the Rajya Sabha, Bhardwaj was instead elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana on 20 March 2006, without opposition.

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. A media shy minister, the old Gandhi family loyalist handled the most sensitive and controversial cases in the

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 Indir ...

cabinet between 2004 and 2009. 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.

Controversies

Bofors scandal

In March 2009, H. R. Bhardwaj was criticized for taking the initiative to de-freeze two bank accounts of

Ottavio Quattrocchi Ottavio Quattrocchi (1938 – 13 July 2013) was an Italian businessman who was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal. Quattrocchi's role in this scandal, and his prox ...

, 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.

As Governor of Karnataka

In July 2010, 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 Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses, and exploration or mineral transportation permits. Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the cas ...

generated a national debate. This was preceded by Bhardwaj rejecting the resignation of Lokayukta, Justice Hegde. 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 200 professors and readers during his tenure between 2003 and 2007 which are yet to be proved. On 21 January 2011, Governor Bhardwaj sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister of Karnataka (

Yeddyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician currently serving as the member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, t ...

) under

Prevention of Corruption Act Prevention of Corruption Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to corruption and bribery. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Prevent ...

, following several allegations of his involvement in land scams and seizure of trucks carrying illegally mined iron ore. However, on 7 March

Karnataka High Court Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

quashed this decision and the Lokayukta Police

FIR Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...

. 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"''. On 7 February 2011, Bharadwaj withheld the approval of honorary doctorate by the

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by Univers ...

to noted historian and Kannada writer

M. Chidananda Murthy M. Chidananda Murthy (10 May 1931 – 11 January 2020) was a Kannada writer, researcher and historian. He was a well-known scholar in Karnataka specializing in the history of Kannada language and ancient Karnataka. He was also known for his cam ...

. Chidananda Murthy had backed justice BK Somasekhara Commission's report on church attacks in Karnataka in 2008. Akhila Bharata

Kannada Sahitya Sammelana The Kannada Sahitya Sammelana () is the premier gathering of writers, poets and Kannadigas. It is held with the aim of preserving and developing the Kannada language, its literature, art, culture and music. It was started in 1915 by H. V. Nanju ...

2011, 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. In May 2011, 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.

Trivia

Speaking at an Editors' Guild seminar, Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'', narrated an incident involving

Arun Shourie Arun Shourie (born 2 November 1941) is an Indian economist, journalist, author and politician. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank, a consultant to the Planning Commission of India, editor of the ''Indian Express'' and ''The Times ...

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 Rohtak () is a city and the administrative headquarters of the Rohtak district in the Indian state of Haryana. It lies north-west of New Delhi and south of the state capital Chandigarh on NH 9(old NH 10). Rohtak forms a part of the National ...

. In response Shourie said "This much law should be known even to a mofussil lawyer like you".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhardwaj, Hansraj 1939 births 2020 deaths Indian National Congress politicians Members of the Cabinet of India Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh Governors of Karnataka Governors of Kerala Rajya Sabha members from Haryana People from Rohtak district Law Ministers of India Ministers for Corporate Affairs