Hansraj Bhardwaj

Hansraj Bhardwaj (born May 17, 1937) is an Indian politician, currently serving as the Union Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice. He is a member of the Indian National Congress and is an elected Member of Parliament representing the state of Haryana in the Rajya Sabha. [http://164.100.24.167:8080/members/biodata.asp?no=132&mpname=Bhardwaj+Shri+Hansraj Biographical sketch] at Indian Parliament website.]

Bhardwaj was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1982. He served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice from December 31 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 June 21 1991 to July 2 1992 and Minister of State in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs from July 3 1992 to May 1996. He was again re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 1994 and April 2000, and since May 22 2004 he has served as Union Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice.

Having previously represented Madhya Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha, Bhardwaj was instead elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana on March 20 2006, without opposition. [ [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060321/main3.htm "Arjun, Bhardwaj, Shinde elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha"] , Tribuneindia.com, March 20, 2006.]

In January 2007, H R Bharadwaj was criticized for taking the initiativeto de-freeze two bank accounts of Ottavio Quattrocchi, who isseen as a close friend of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. In particular,it appears he did not consult the investigating agency CBI which had gotten the accounts frozen.Sudheendra Kulkarni, [http://www.indianexpress.com/story/24763.html "Sonia & satyagraha — some questions"] , "The Indian Express", March 4, 2007.]

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