A R Antulay
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Abdul Rahman Antulay (9 February 1929 – 2 December 2014) was an Indian politician. Antulay was a union minister for Minority Affairs and a Member of Parliament in the
14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (2 June 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian National ...
of India. Earlier he had been the Chief Minister of the state of
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, but was forced to resign after being convicted by the
Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...
on charges that he had extorted money for a trust fund he managed. Later, the Supreme Court of India gave him clean chit in that case. Antulay belonged to the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
. In the
2009 Indian general elections General elections were held in India in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009 to elect the members of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. With a registered electorate of 716 million and a turnout of 417 million voters, it was the la ...
, he lost to Anant Geete from the Raigad Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra. He is the first Muslim
chief minister of Maharashtra The chief minister of Maharashtra (IAST: Mahārāṣṭrāce Mukhyamaṃtrī) is the head of the executive branch of the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Following elections to the Legislative Assembly, the governor invites ...
.


Life

He was born in a Konkani Muslim Family to father Hafiz Abdul Gafoor and mother Zohrabi in Ambet village, near
Mahad Mahad ( əɦaːɖ is a city in Raigad district (formerly Kulaba district) situated in the North Konkan region of Maharashtra state, India. It is located from District Headquarters Alibag, and from Mumbai. Mahad is known for Raigad Fort ...
Raigad, Maharashtra,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. He was married to Nargis Antulay and the couple had one son and three daughters. After appearing for his B.A. examinations, he studied to be a barrister, educated at
Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...
and
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Antulay was a member of the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (ISO: ''Mahārāṣṭra Vidhāna Sabhā'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. It consists of 288 members directly elected from single-seat constituenci ...
from 1962 to 1976, during which time he served in the Maharashtra state government as Minister of State for Law and Judiciary, Ports and Fisheries and then as Minister of Law & Judiciary, Building, Communication and Housing from October 1969 to February 1976. He was a member of the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
from 1976 to 1980; in 1980, he was again elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra from June 1980 to January 1982. He was forced to resign his post after allegations of corruption and a conviction in an extortion case."AROUND THE WORLD; A Top Official in India Is Convicted of Extortion"
Associated Press (''The New York Times''), 13 January 1982.
He again got elected in 1985 election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and remained until 1989, when he was elected to the
9th Lok Sabha The 9th Lok Sabha (2 December 1989 – 13 March 1991) was elected during elections in 22–26 November 1989. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. Twelve sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected ...
. He was re-elected to the
10th Lok Sabha The 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting members from Rajya Sabha, ...
in 1991. From June 1995 to May 1996, he was Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, and from February to May 1996 he was additionally in charge of Water Resources. In 1996 he was re-elected to the
11th Lok Sabha The 11th Lok Sabha was constituted after April–May 1996 general elections. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. Atal Bihari Vajpa ...
, and in 2004 he was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha. He was Union Minister for Ministry of Minority Affairs (India) under
Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...
's government.Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
He started his career as active social worker in 1945. As a social worker his notable achievements include construction of (i) a jetty on the bank of
Savitri River Savitri River is one of the five rivers which originate from Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra state in India. It originates at Savitri point near Mahabaleshwar and flows through the bankot village and directly goes to Arabian sea Raigad distri ...
, Bankot (Khadi) Creek through local people offering free labor (shramdan in Marathi) to complete the task. He also worked with his own hands along with the villagers of Ambet; (ii) road between the village Ambet and Lonere Goregaon (then in Kolaba, now in
Raigad district Raigad district (), previously Colaba fort, Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters of the district is Alibag. Other major cities in the district are Panvel, Karjat, Navi Mumbai, Khopoli, Sh ...
) to connect his village to NH-17. He had a keen interest in the uplifting of the weaker sections of the society and as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra had launched Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana (a monthly financial aid scheme for poor and destitute), pension and housing facilities for legislators and media persons, and many more initiatives. He had also announced that he would get back the Bhawani sword — the sword used by iconic Maratha king Shivaji which now lies in the British Museum in London. He had to resign from the post of
Chief Minister of Maharashtra The chief minister of Maharashtra (IAST: Mahārāṣṭrāce Mukhyamaṃtrī) is the head of the executive branch of the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Following elections to the Legislative Assembly, the governor invites ...
due to allegations of his involvement in corruption. However, the Supreme Court cleared him of all allegations years later. The charges were seen as political ploy to malign him and arrest his political growth. When cleared by the Supreme Court, he said "I had done nothing wrong. I was targeted by political rivals but they failed. I suffered some setbacks, but they could not destroy me." Antulay died from
chronic Kidney failure Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of long-term kidney disease, defined by the sustained presence of abnormal kidney function and/or abnormal kidney structure. To meet criteria for CKD, the abnormalities must be present for at least three mo ...
on 2 December 2014 while being treated at the
Breach Candy Hospital Breach Candy Hospital is a private hospital located in Mumbai, India. It is located in the Breach Candy area of South Mumbai. It is well known for the rich and famous patients that have been in the hospital. History It was established in ...
in Mumbai. Upon Antulay's demise, noted criminal lawyer J.P. Mishra, who represented the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
leader Ramdas Nayak in the corruption cases he had filed against Antulay, paid tributes to his former adversary. He acknowledged Antulay as "an administrator par excellence" and praised him as "a truly great human being. He set up the trusts for the benefit of the poorest people in society, but they became his undoing. Even during the trial, he was always amiable and soft-spoken, never harbouring animosity or ill-will against anybody".


Literary works

He published several books: * ''
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
Privilege'' (compilation of his five articles published in the ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
''); * ''Mahajan Report - Uncovered''; * ''Appointment of a Chief Justice''; * ''
Democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
- Parliamentary or Presidential?'' (compilation of his speeches and interviews).


Controversies

He resigned as Chief Minister of Maharashtra after the
Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...
convicted him of extortion on 13 January 1982. The court ruled that Antulay had illegally required Bombay area builders to make donations to Indira Gandhi Pratibha Pratishthan trust, one of several trust funds he had established and controlled, in exchange for receiving more cement than the quota allotted to them by the Government. He was later granted bail by the court. However, the Supreme Court later cleared him of the allegations. Again after
2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...
he has raised a controversy by saying that the end of Hemant Karkare, of the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra, killed in the attacks, may be related to his investigation of the 2006 Malegaon blasts, leading to questions about the Mumbai attacks. Later he changed his stand and told Parliament he had not talked about who killed the police officers but about who "sent them in the wrong direction". His party, Congress, distanced itself from his statements. The then US ambassador, in some of the US embassy cables, accused that this early dismissal, then followed by tacit promotion, indicates that "the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious-based politics if it feels it is in its interest."Copy of diplomatic cable dated 23 December 2008 (10 December 2010)
"US Embassy Cables: Mumbai Conspiracy Allegations 'Outrageous' – US Ambassador"
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. Retrieved 13 December 2010.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antulay, A. R. 1929 births 2014 deaths People from Raigad district Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra Chief ministers of Maharashtra Maharashtra MLAs 1962–1967 Maharashtra MLAs 1985–1990 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 2004–2009 Maharashtra MLAs 1980–1985 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Health ministers of India Ministers of minority affairs Members of the Cabinet of India Indian politicians convicted of crimes Ismail Yusuf College alumni