Former Cabinet Minister of Ministry of External Affairs
NAME– Salman Khurshid Alam Khan
PROFESSION– Politician, Senior Advocate, Eminent Author, Law Professor
BORN– 1st January 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH– Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
FATHER’S NAME– Khurshid Alan Khan
MOTHER’S NAME– Saeeda Khurshid
SPOUSE– Louise Khurshid
SIBLINGS– N/A
CHILDREN– Zafar Khurshid, Omar Khurshid, Samar Khurshid
EDUCATION- Saint Xavier High School, Delhi Public School, B.A. from Saint Stephen’s College, New Delhi, M.A. in Bachelor of Civil Law from Saint Edmund Hall Oxford University.
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS/PARTY– Indian National Congress (INC)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE– N/A
REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT- He opened Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) specifically for women, promotion of Urdu as a prominent language, ‘Son of Babur’, widely acknowledged play written by him.
AWARDS– N/A
Salman Khurshid is the Former Foreign Minister of External Affairs, Former Minister of Law and Justice, Former Minister of Minority Affairs and Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha).
BACKGROUND– Salman Khurshid is an Indian politician, who has been an eminent advocate, highly acknowledged author, as well as a law professor. He contested 2009 general elections (for Lok Sabha) and his constituency was Farrukhabad. He even
fought the Lok Sabha elections of 1991 to 1996 from the similar constituency. After his victory in the 1991 election, he served as Union Deputy Minister of Commerce. He has served as Foreign Minister of External Affairs, Former Minister of Law and
Justice, Former Minister of Minority Affairs, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha). Salman began his career in politics in 1981 serving as officer on Special Duty in the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office). He gave his service during the time when the Prime
Minister was Indira Gandhi.
UPBRINGING AND EDUCATION– Salman Khurshid was born on 1st January, 1953 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh and traces his ancestry to the Tribes of Afridi and Kheshgi. Salman Khurshid is the Maternal grandson of Mr. Zakir Hussain,
who served as third Indian President. Mr Khurshid is highly educated as he did his schooling from Saint Xavier High
School, Patna, and Delhi Public School in the same city. He pursued Bachelor of Arts in English and jurisprudence from Saint Stephen’s College in New Delhi. Along with bachelor’s degree, he has even done his M.A. He pursued Masters of Arts in the field of Civil Law from Oxford University at Saint Edmund hall, Oxford. Along with his own education, he has even worked as a lecturer in Oxford University, Trinity College.
WALK OF LIFE– Mr. Salman, during his initial years(1980’s) served as Officer on Special Duty to Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister. He contested elections to the seat of Lok Sabha in the year 1991 and served from 1991 to 1996 as Deputy minister of Commerce to the Government of Congress led by Indira Gandhi. The constituency from which he won the election was Farrukhabad, Lok Sabha. He served as minister of state for external affairs to Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He met with numerous defeats in the election process later on and finally in 2009, he won the election and secured 169 votes out of 351.
He served as corporate affairs Minister and minority affairs minister to the Government of India in the year 2009-2011. Reshuffling of cabinet took place and he got the ministry of law and Justice 2011-12. antrum 2012/2014 is served under the
Ministry of External Affairs.
MAJOR INITIATIVES TAKEN– He, along with his wife, run the famous Zakir Hussain memorial trust as a social contribution to physically challenged people. Salman served for the upliftment of Muslim community. He made efforts to ensure
quality education to all those who speak Urdu. He brought numerous steps to ensure the well being of Muslims who were in minority in India. A majority of his career went in their upliftment.
CAREER TIMELINE/ POSITION HELD–
2009-2014- Served as Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, where he succeeded Mukesh Rajput and got victory in the elections, while fighting from the constituency of Farrukhabad.
19 January, 2009 – 28 October, 2012- He worked under the ministry of Minority Affairs. During this time Pratibha Patil was the president and Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister.
28 October, 2012 – 25th March, 2014- He served as minister of external affairs under the same president and prime minister as before. In other words, there was a change of his ministry from Minority Affairs to Law and Justice and finally to External
Affairs.
CONTROVERSIES/ CASES–
Sri Abraham T. J. v. State of Karnataka-
The issue before the Court was regarding the maintainability of Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The case had been filed by two women who had donated 5 acres ofland for the construction of ‘Mini Vidhan Soudha’ for State administrative purposes.
However, the state government decided to shift the construction to a nearby area of the same taluk. This action was challenged by the petitioners on grounds of violation of conditional gift deed. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the Special Leave
Petition (SLP), held that the action of the state government was executive in nature, and not of public interest.
Ashish Kumar Yadav And Ors. V. State of Uttar Pradesh And Ors. (2019)-
The case was regarding malpractices in the recruitment process to the post of Police Constables in Uttar Pradesh. The appellants had allegedly used erasers/ blades in the examination, and the said matter was sub judice in the High Court. The appellants
contended that their rights were crystallised by Hanuman Dutt Shukla (Hanuman Dutt Shukla v. State of U.P., (2018) 16 SCC 447) judgement, and that Police constables should be entitled to the similar treatment as Sub-Inspectors. The Supreme Court
agreed with this view and granted liberty to other such candidate to approach the High Courts.
Other cases argued by Mr. Salman Khurshid-
Foundation for Organizational Research and Education v. AICTE
Shahid Balwa v. Central Bureau of Investigation