- NAME: Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
- DATE OF BIRTH: 26 August, 1956
- PLACE OF BIRTH: New Delhi
- PARENTS: Late Lt. Col. T.S. Anand & Late Smt. Amteshwar Anand
- SPOUSE: Late Shri Sanjay Gandhi (m. 1974-1980)
- SIBLING: Ambika Shukla
- CHILDREN: Varun Gandhi
- EDUCATION: Lady Sri Ram College for Women, New Delhi
- OCCUPATION: Politician (Member of Lok Sabha), Animal-Rights Activist
- POLITICAL PARTIES: Rashtriya Sanjay Manch (1983-1988)
Janata Dal (1988-1996)
Bharatiya Janata Party (2004-Present)
Maneka Gandhi, touted as Gandhi family rebellion, is an industrious and assiduous politician cum animal-rights activist. Her journey from once being kicked out of the Prime Minister’s office to becoming the Union Minister of Women and Child Development is full of ups and downs. Here is a little excerpt of her life’s journey.
- POSITIONS HELD:
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Environment and Forests (1989-91)
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Programme Implementation (1990)
- Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests (1996-97)
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Social Justice and Empowerment (1998-99)
- Minister of State, Social Justice and Empowerment (Independent Charge) (1999-2001)
- Minister of State, Culture with additional charge of Animal Care (Independent Charge) Programme Implementation and Statistics with added charge of Animal Care (Independent Charge) (2001)
- Union Minister of State, Programme Implementation and Statistics with additional charge of Animal Care (Independent Charge) (2001-2002)
- Member, Committee on External Affairs (2002-2004)
- Member, Committee on Health & Family Welfare, Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Environment and Forests (2004)
- Member, Committee on Health & Family Welfare (2007)
- Member of Committee on Railways (2009)
- Chairperson, Committee on Government Assurances (2009)
- Member, General Purposes Committee (2009)
- Union Minister of Women & Child Development (2014-19)
- AWARDS:
- Shining World Compassion Award along with a cheque for 20,000 dollars from Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association.
- Lord Erskine Award from the RSPCA, 1992
- Environmentalist and Vegetarian of the year 1994
- Prani Mitra Award, 1996
- Maharana Mewar Foundation Award, 1996 for Environmental work
- Marchig Animal Welfare and selling Prize, Switzerland, 1997
- Venu Menon Animal Allies Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, 1999
- Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation Award for Excellence in the sphere of Truth, Non-violence and Vegetarianism, 1999
- Dewaliben Charitable Trust Award, 1999
- International Women’s Association Woman of the Year Award, Chennai, 2001
- Dinanath Mangeshkar Aadishakti Puraskar in the field of Environment and animal welfare, 2001
- Rukmini Devi Arundale Animal Welfare Award
- A.S.G. Jayakar award, 2008
- Human Achiever Award in field of Women Empowerment and Children Welfare by Mrs Caroline W/O Ambassador Of Namibia and Ms Sanorita Issac, founder & Chairperson, Human Achiever Foundation, India.
- BOOKS:
- 1000 animal quiz, Calcutta : Rupa and Co., 1989, 201 p.
- Brahma’s hair : the mythology of Indian plants, Calcutta : Rupa and Co., 1991, 175 p. With Yasmin Singh.
- The Penguin book of Hindu names, London : Penguin Books ; New Delhi : Penguin Books India, 1992, 522 p. Latest edition in 2008.
- Dogs, dogs, dogs, New Delhi : Rupa & Co., 1994, 261 p. With Ozair Husain. Latest edition in 2004.
- The complete book of Muslim and Parsi names, New Delhi : Indus, 1994, 522 p. With Ozair Husain.
- Heads and tails, Mapusa, Goa, India : Other India Press, 1994, 182 p. On animal rights and animal rights.
- The rainbow and other stories, New Delhi : Puffin Books, 1999, 67 p. Children’s short stories.
- The Penguin book of Hindu names for boys, New Delhi : Penguin Books, 2004, 429 p.
- The Penguin book of Hindu names for girls, New York : Penguin Books, 2004, 151 p.
- The Rupa book of animal quiz, Rupa & Co., 2004, 201 p.
- Animal laws of India, New Delhi, India : Universal Law Publishing, 2016, 1649 p. With Ozair Husain and Raj Panjwani.
- Sanjay Gandhi, New Delhi : Prestige Publishers, 2017, 244 p. With Himani Bhatia Narula.
- There’s a monster under my bed! : and other terrible terrors, Gurgaon : Puffin Books, 2019, 54 p. Children’s short stories. Illustrations by Snigdha Rao.
- ACTIVISM: Here are a few landmark judgments the petition for which was filed by Mrs. Maneka Gandhi.
- Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248:
Maneka Gandhi, a journalist, had applied for a passport which was issued on 1 June 1976. On 4th July 1977, she received a letter from the regional passport officer that her passport was getting impounded and she was required to surrender her passport within the next 7 days under Sec. 10(3)(c) of the passport act “in public interest”. She immediately addressed a letter asking for the reason of such an action. The government of India refused to furnish her a copy of the statement of reasons on the ground that it was issued in the interest of general public.
Maneka Gandhi filed a writ petition under article 32 of the constitution of India challenging the seizure of her passport. She contended that Section 10(3)(c) is unconstitutional as it violated Article 14, 19 & 21 of the Indian Constitution.
The court held that section 10(3)(c) of passport act, 1967 is not unconstitutional as it does not violate article 14 & 19 since it provides for an opportunity to be heard, and the impugned action of the government did not restrict petitioner’s right to practice the profession. Moreover, the court also stated that it did not violate article 21. Furthermore, in order to uphold the principle of Audi Alterum Partem, post-decisional hearing was allowed. Moreover, the court overruled its A.K Gopalan judgement, where it was held that these article 14, 19 & 21 are mutually exclusive, by stating that there is a unique relationship between the provisions of Article 14, 19 & 21 and every law must pass the tests of the said provisions.
- Maneka Gandhi v. State of J&K, 2007(1)JKJ58
In this case, Maneka Gandhi had complainined about the mushroom growth of Charcoal Bhatties in Kathua district and the damage caused by those bhatties to the forests and environment.
In was held that manufacture of Charcoal was being carried on in those Bhatties, which was going on un-checked and was not subject to any regulation and was in fact causing enormous damage to the ecology and environment of the area and, therefore, the unbridled trade required to be stopped and checked to save any further damage to the forests, water resources, ecology and environment of the area.
2. Maneka Gandhi v. Buffalo Traders Welfare Association & Ors., 1994Supp(3)SCC448
In this case, a writ petition under Article 32 was filed by the petitioner for violation of Article 21 by industries including slaughterhouse which were hazardous as they violated citizens’ right to live with dignity in a safe environment.
The court gave direction to stop functioning of slaughter houses within the city in order to improve the prevailing conditions in larger public interest.