Arun Jaitley: A Life in Law, Politics, and Public Service

By Ravi Rohmetra

Arun Jaitley was born on 28 December 1952 in Delhi into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family. His father, Maharaj Kishen Jaitley, was a lawyer, while his mother, Ratan Prabha Jaitley, was a homemaker. He studied at St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Delhi, from 1957 to 1969. In 1973, he graduated with an honours degree in commerce (B.Com) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, and later earned his LL.B. degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, in 1977.

Jaitley began his public life as a student leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Delhi University. In 1974, he rose to become the President of the Students’ Union of Delhi University. During the Internal Emergency (1975–77), when fundamental rights were suspended, he was placed under preventive detention for 19 months. He was an active participant in the anti-corruption movement launched in 1973 by Raj Narain and Jayaprakash Narayan, serving as convener of the National Committee for Students and Youth Organisation under Narayan’s guidance. He was also associated with the civil rights movement and helped establish the PUCL Bulletin with Satish Jha and Smitu Kothari. After his release from jail, he joined the Jan Sangh.

In 1977, Jaitley became convener of the Loktantrik Yuva Morcha. Following the Congress party’s electoral defeat, he was appointed president of the Delhi ABVP and All India Secretary of the ABVP. In 1980, he became the president of the BJP’s youth wing and secretary of the Delhi unit soon after the party’s formation.

Alongside politics, Jaitley practised law in the Supreme Court and various High Courts from 1977. He was designated a Senior Advocate by the Delhi High Court in January 1990. In 1989, he was appointed Additional Solicitor General of India by the V. P. Singh government, where he handled paperwork for investigations into the Bofors scandal. His legal practice included representing politicians across party lines, multinational corporations such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, and appearing in several high-profile cases. In June 1998, he served as India’s delegate to the United Nations General Assembly session, which approved the Declaration on Laws Relating to Drugs and Money Laundering.

Jaitley entered the Union Cabinet in November 2000 as Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping. He subsequently served in multiple ministerial roles, including Commerce & Industry, Law & Justice, and briefly Defence. He was also BJP’s national spokesperson and General Secretary.

In 2009, he was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, where he played a prominent role in parliamentary debates, including those on the Women’s Reservation Bill and the Jan Lokpal movement. He also piloted constitutional amendments such as the 84th (freezing parliamentary seats until 2026) and the 91st (penalising defections).

In 2014, Jaitley contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat but lost to Amarinder Singh. However, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat and later from Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed him Union Finance Minister, Corporate Affairs Minister, and briefly Defence Minister. As Finance Minister (2014–19), Jaitley oversaw major economic reforms, including the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the 2016 demonetisation.

He also voiced support for reforms in personal laws, backed transparency in income declarations, and was recognised internationally for his stance on governance. In 2019, citing ill health, he declined a ministerial role in Modi’s second cabinet.

Jaitley married Sangeeta, daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Girdhari Lal Dogra, on 24 May 1982. They had two children, Rohan and Sonali, both lawyers.

Arun Jaitley passed away on 24 August 2019 at the age of 66. He was cremated at Nigam Bodh Ghat in Delhi. His contributions were honoured with several memorials, including the renaming of Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium as Arun Jaitley Stadium in September 2019, and a statue unveiled there in December 2020. In Jammu, the Hira Nagar stadium was also named after him. The Indian cricket team wore black armbands in his memory during a test match against the West Indies.

Arun Jaitley remains remembered as a skilled lawyer, reformist Finance Minister, articulate parliamentarian, and consensus-builder who shaped India’s legal, political, and economic landscape.

(Writer is Social Activist and a freelancer and can be reached at Mob : 9419652999)