Mohammed Fazal (2 July 1922 – 4 September 2014) was an Indian politician who was the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor, however the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Ministers. Bhagat ...

from 10 October 2002 to 5 December 2004. Born in a well-known ''

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

i'' (landlord) family, he studied at the Allahabad University and later at the London School of Economics at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In 1977 he was appointed the Secretary of Industrial Development,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. He was the most senior member of the Planning Commission from April 1980 till his resignation in January 1985. He then founded and was the chairman of Hughes & Hughes Chem Ltd. In 1999, he was appointed the

Governor of Goa The governor of Goa is a nominal head and representative of the president of India in the state of Goa. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. P. S. Sreedharan Pillai became governor on 7 July 2021. Powers and func ...

, a post he held until he was appointed

. He suggested to Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Sushilkumar Shinde Sushilkumar Sambhaji Shinde (born 4 September 1941) is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He was the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Power in the Manmohan Singh government, and the Leader of the House in Lok Sabha until ...

that

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

be legalised, which caused controversy. His grandson

Ali Fazal Ali Fazal (born 15 October 1986) is an Indian actor and model who primarily appears in Hindi films. He made his screen debut with a small role in the English language film ''The Other End of the Line'' before appearing in the American television ...

is an actor who had roles in films including '' 3 Idiots'' and ''

Victoria & Abdul ''Victoria & Abdul'' is a 2017 British biographical historical drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Lee Hall. The film is based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu, about the real-life relationship between Queen Vi ...

''. Fazal died on 4 September 2014 at the age of 92 at his residence in Abu Bakrpur, Allahabad. He had been suffering from low blood pressure, congestion in the chest, and short-term memory loss.

References

External links

"''Green signal to red light''"
- article in

Bombay Times The ''Bombay Times'' is a free supplement of ''The Times of India'', in the Mumbai (formerly Bombay) region. It covers celebrity news, news features, international and national music news, international and national fashion news, lifestyle and ...

about the governor's views
Biodata at website of Raj Bhavan
1922 births 2014 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Allahabad alumni 20th-century Indian Muslims Indian civil servants Politicians from Allahabad Governors of Goa Governors of Maharashtra Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom {{Maharashtra-politician-stub