From lawyer to lawmaker

As a young lawyer in Patna, Ravi Shankar Prasad would not accept fees to fight cases for the poor . Years later, Union minister of law and justice Prasad says that experience is coming handy in reforming the justice administration.

Days spent in prison as a student activist from the anti-Emergency movement have helped as well. Access to justice is now a key focus area for reform for the Modi government. Under the ministry of communications and information technology, of which Prasad holds dual charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship project – Digital India – has empowerment of the poor at its thrust.

A three-time Rajya Sabha MP, Prasad, 63, was minister of state for coal, minister for law, and minister for information and broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. While in the coal ministry, he was credited for the turnaround of Coal India. As I&B minister, he rebranded the International Film Festival of India by moving it out of Delhi to the global holiday destination, Goa.

When the BJP went out of power in 2004, Prasad became one of the national spokespersons. With his appearances in important cases, including the Ram Janmbhoomi matter, his job as the opposition party’s media face ensured that Prasad was never away from the headlines. As law minister, his reform push includes repealing obsolete laws, tackling pendency of cases and ensuring a transparent process for appointment of judges.