Hyderabad: Underlining the services of former union minister and legal luminary P. Shiv Shankar for the development of the country’s downtrodden, speakers from across the spectrum came up with several anecdotes related to him and his close association with the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday released a book ‘Against all Odds: A life Unveiled’ a biography of Shiv Shankar at Ravindra Bharathi. The book was translated to Telugu by G. Valliswar.
V. Gopala Gowda, former Supreme Court judge, recalling his association with Shiv Shankar, said, “He was very talented. He brought a number of reforms to the judicial system. His huge knowledge on legal issues was recognised by Indira Gandhi. When he was practicing in Hyderabad, he received a call from Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, She appointed him as her legal adviser. Since then, he handled sensitive cases in which Indira Gandhi was accused along with other senior Congress leaders."
Shinde, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, said that the book would be helpful to the present generation of advocates.
"When I was fighting on the issues for Scheduled Castes in Maharashtra, Shiv Shankar fought for OBCs issues in Andhra Pradesh. I met him in 1983 in Mumbai and my association continued till his death," Shinde said.
Former chief minister of Karnataka and former Union law minister M. Veerappa Moily said that Shiv Shankar was closely associated with Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He fought for the development of OBCs in the country, Moily said.
"Shiv Shankar had argued many cases in the apex court on behalf of Indira Gandhi during the emergency. Post-emergency, he played a key role in Delhi by handling a number of cases," Moily recalled.
