Sheila Kaul (7 February 1915 – 13 June 2015) was a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

leader of 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 ...

, a politician,

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

and

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, and the oldest living former member of parliament in India at the time of her death. She was also an

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, and

social reformer Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

in the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, and an independence activist in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. She was

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

's sister-in-law and

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

's maternal aunt.

Personal life

Sheila Kaul was born in 1915. She had a degree in arts from the Lahore College for Women and a degree in teaching from the Sir Ganga Ram Training College,

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. She was a state

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

champion in undivided

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, British India. She was married to

Kailas Nath Kaul Kailas Nath Kaul (1905–1983) was an Indian botanist, naturalist, agricultural scientist, horticulturist, herbalist, plant collector and herpetologist, and a world authority on Arecaceae. He founded India's National Botanical Research Institu ...

, brother of

Kamala Nehru Kamala Nehru (; ; 1 August 1899 – 28 February 1936) was an Indian independence activist and the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. Their daughter Indira Gandhi would go on to become the first and the only woman Prim ...

and a renowned

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

who established the

National Botanical Research Institute The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) is a research institute of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is engaged in the field of taxonomy and modern biology. History Or ...

in Lucknow, India. Gautam Kaul, a former Director General of the

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a Central Armed Police Forces, central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding Border guard, India’s border with ...

and film critic, and Vikram Kaul, an international sports administrator, are their sons. Deepa Kaul, a social worker and former Congress minister, is their daughter. Jawaharlal Nehru was Sheila Kaul's brother-in-law,

was her niece, and

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

was her grandnephew.

Prem Adib Prem Adib (10 August 1917 – 25 December 1959) was an Indian actor. He was acclaimed as one of the top Bollywood actors of the 1940s, along with the likes of Pahari Sanyal, Ashok Kumar, P. C. Barua and Master Vinayak. Adib is best remembered ...

, a 1940s

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

superstar, was her brother-in-law.

Political career

Sheila Kaul was Corporator of the

Lucknow Municipal Corporation Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) is a local government for Lucknow, the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration in the city of Lucknow. In 2024, LMC ...

during 1959–65, and a member of the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council also known as Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, c ...

during 1968–71. She was elected as Member of Parliament five times – in 1971, 1980 and 1984 from Lucknow, and in 1989 and 1991 from Rae Bareli. She served as a Minister in the

Cabinet of India The Union Council of Ministers is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India'' It is chaired by th ...

during 1980–84 and 1991–95, and as the Governor of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

during 1995–96. Kaul led the Indian delegations to the International Women's Congress, Berlin in 1975, the International Conference of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Copenhagen in 1980, the International Conference on the Role of Culture for Development of Man and Society, Sofia in 1980, the Sessions of General Conference of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, Paris in 1982 and 1983, the First Conference of Ministers of Education and Culture of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries, Pyongyang in 1983, the International Conference on Education, Geneva in 1984, the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

in 1985 and 1987, and the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in 1990. She became General Secretary of the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

in 1988. Kaul introduced in the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

The Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Bill, 1991, which was enacted in 1992. She also moved in Parliament the AMU (Amendment) Bill, 1981, which was enacted in the same year. While in Parliament, she served as a member of the Committee on Public Undertakings (1980–84), Committee on Privileges (1980–84), Joint Committee on Taxation (Amendment) Bill (1980–84), Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation (1990), and Subject Committee on Science and Technology (1990). A chargesheet based on a case of 1996 accused the former Union Urban Development Minister of entering into a conspiracy with her two personal staff members and over forty other individuals for ''allegedly'' renting out government shops for a consideration. The CBI, however, did not seize any assets disproportionate to her income, implying that there was no evidence of corruption. Without holding a trial or providing Kaul with an opportunity to defend herself, http://www.docstoc.com/docs/47549596/JUDICIAL-ACTIVISM-Justice-Mr-V-G-Palshikar-(Retd) the Supreme Court of India in 1996 imposed an exemplary fine of ₹ 6 million on Kaul for having nepotistically rented out 52 shops and kiosks under the discretionary quota. In 2002, the fine was quashed by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court of India in response to a review petition filed by Kaul. Kaul, the accused, had been deprived of her right to a trial in a Sessions Court, and also the right to file an appeal against a conviction order, if any, before the High Court and ultimately before the Supreme Court. In 2013, the 99-year-old Kaul moved the Supreme Court of India, challenging the 2012 order of a CBI Special Judge that asked her to appear in court in an ambulance to respond to the charges of out-of-turn allotments against her. Kaul's counsel contended that she was incapable of giving rational answers or making a personal appearance due to her old age and ailments. They argued that the High Court had earlier dismissed Kaul's relief plea despite a medical board of the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

reporting in 2012 that she had an "impaired" understanding of day-to-day events. In 2016, a year after Kaul's death, a special court awarded a two-year prison sentence to her former additional private secretary Rajan Lala, a retired government official, for his role in an allotment scam during her ministerial tenure. Sheila Kaul died on 13 June 2015, aged 100, in

Ghaziabad, India Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of National Capital Region (India), Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district, India, Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in Western ...

. Her death was condoled by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

, who remembered her for her distinguished service to the nation: "Smt. Kaul was a distinguished Parliamentarian and able administrator who served the nation in various capacities. A multi-faceted personality, Smt. Kaul worked with distinction as member of the Union Council of Ministers and Governor of Himachal Pradesh. The nation will always remember her valuable contributions and pursuit of excellence in public life." Her death was also condoled by the

Positions held

*1971-77: Member of Parliament,

5th Lok Sabha The 5th Lok Sabha (15 March 1971 — 18 January 1977) was elected during February–March 1971.The term of the House was extended two times by one year at a time. However, the House was dissolved after having been in existence for a period of ...

(Lucknow) *1980-84: Member of Parliament,

7th Lok Sabha The 7th Lok Sabha, (18 January 1980 – 31 December 1984) was elected in 1980 Indian general election. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India nine sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 7th Lo ...

(Lucknow) *1980–84: Minister of State for Culture, Education and Social Welfare (Independent Charge); President, Indian National Commission for Cooperation with the

*1984-89: Member of Parliament,

8th Lok Sabha The 8th Lok Sabha ran from 31 December 1984 to 27 November 1989. Politicians were elected in December 1984, taking office by the end of the month. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the bicameral Parliament of India. 9 si ...

(Lucknow) *1989-91: Member of Parliament,

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 ...

(Rae Bareli) *1991-95: Member of Parliament,

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, ...

(Rae Bareli) * 1991–95: Union Minister for Housing and Urban Development * 1995: Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment * 1995–96: Governor of Himachal Pradesh

Personal life

Political career

Positions held

See also

References

Further reading