Man with profound knowledge: Om Birla condoles Shanti Bhushan's demise

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday condoled the demise of former law minister Shanti Bhushan and said that the eminent lawyer had a profound knowledge of constitutional matters.

Bhushan passed away on Tuesday aged 97 after a brief illness.

"Saddened to know about the demise of former Union Minister and eminent lawyer with profound knowledge on constitutional matters Shri Shanti Bhusan Ji. My condolences to his family. May his soul rest in eternal peace," Om Birla said in a tweet.

Bhushan had actively participated in the anti-corruption agitation led by social activist Anna Hazare.

He was one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party. However, he fell out with AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and was expelled from the AAP within two years of the formation of the party.

Bhushan, whose sons Jayant and Prashant Bhushan are leading lawyers, was active inthe legal profession till recently and had argued on a PIL in the Supreme Court seekinga court-monitored probe into the Rafale fighter jets deal.

In 2018 also, he moved to the Supreme Court challenging the roster practice of allocation of cases in the top court by the chief justice of India.

In his plea, Bhushan had sought to check on the powers of the CJI, who is the 'master of the roster' and allocates hearings of cases to different courts.

"The petition raises a very fundamental issue going to the root of the functioning of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India and as such is very critical to the interpretation of the Constitution of India and the Rule of Law in India," stated Bhushan in his petition.

Bhushan also served as the law minister in the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party government from 1977 to 1979, which came to power after the Emergency.