Dear Hon'ble Members of LCI: I shall be very grateful if some of you can send me the profile of Her Excellency The President of India, Prthiba Patil. It's Urgent Please.
N.K.Assumi (Advocate) 26 July 2009
Dear Hon'ble Members of LCI: I shall be very grateful if some of you can send me the profile of Her Excellency The President of India, Prthiba Patil. It's Urgent Please.
M. PIRAVI PERUMAL (Advocate & Consumer Rights) 26 July 2009
President of India
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil was born on December 19, 1934 in Nadgaon village of Jalgaon District, Maharashtra.
Smt. Patil assumed office as the 12th President of India on July 25, 2007. She is the first woman to have been elected to this august office.
Immediately prior to election as the President of India, Smt. Patil was the Governor of Rajasthan from November 8, 2004 till June 21, 2007.
Education:
Smt. Patil received her early education from RR Vidyalaya, Jalgaon and later obtained her Master’s degree in Political Science and Economics from the Mooljee Jetha College, Jalgaon. Later, she obtained the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Government Law College, Bombay (Mumbai). While in college, she took active part in sports, excelled in table tennis and won several shields at various Inter-collegiate tournaments. Even as an MLA, she pursued her studies as a law student.
Professional Career:
Smt. Patil started her professional career as a practicing lawyer at the Jalgaon District Court and simultaneously devoted herself to various social activities, especially, for the upliftment of poor women.
Political Career:
At the young age of 27 years, she successfully contested her first election to the Maharashtra State Legislature from the Jalgaon Assembly constituency. Subsequently she was continuously elected four times as MLA from the Edlabad (Muktai Nagar) constituency till 1985. Thereafter, she served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from 1985 to 1990 and later elected as a Member of Parliament to the 10th Lok Sabha in the 1991 General Elections from the Amravati constituency. She enjoys the unique distinction of not having lost a single election that she contested till date.
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil in her long stint in Maharashtra has held various positions both in the Government and the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra. She was :
While in the Rajya Sabha, Smt. Patil was the Deputy Chairperson, Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988 and also served as the Chairperson, Rajya Sabha from 25.7.1987 to 2.9.1987 when Dr. R. Venkataraman got elected as President of India. She was also the Chairperson, Committee of Privileges, Rajya Sabha and Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988. While in the Lok Sabha, Smt. Patil was the Chairperson, House Committee.
Public Life:
In her long public life, she has been associated with several institutions in wide ranging capacities. She served as Chairperson, Maharashtra State Water Pollution Control Board from 1982 to 1985. She was also the President, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) from 1988 to 1990. Besides holding the position of Director and Vice-Chairperson, National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies, she also served as Member, Governing Council, National Cooperative Union of India and Chairperson, 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee, Government of Maharashtra.
Smt. Patil has represented India in various international fora. She attended the International Council on Social Welfare conferences at Nairobi and at Puerto Rico. She was a Member of the AICC(I) delegation to Bulgaria in 1985 and represented as Member, Commonwealth Presiding Officers Conference in London in 1988. She led the Indian delegation to the Conference on the ‘Status of Women’ in Austria and was a delegate at the World Women’s Conference, Beijing, China in September 1995.
Social and Cultural Activities:
Throughout her public life, Smt. Patil has worked actively for the welfare of women and children and the underprivileged sections of society. For their benefit, she established several institutions for them. To name a few, she had set up (i) hostels for working women in Mumbai and Delhi, (ii) an Engineering College at Jalgaon for rural youth, (iii) the Shram Sadhana Trust which takes part in multifarious welfare activities for development of women, (iv)an Industrial Training School for the visually handicapped in Jalgaon, (v) schools for poor children of Vimukta Jatis (Nomadic Tribes) and for children of Backward Classes in Amravati District and (vi) a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farmers’ Training Centre) at Amravati, Maharashtra. She played a pioneering role in setting up the Mahila Vikas Mahamandal, a Maharashtra State Government undertaking for the development of women.
She was instrumental in organizing music, computer and sewing classes for the poor and needy women at Amravati, Maharashtra. Smt. Patil also organized the Women’s Home Guard in Jalgaon District and was their Commandant in 1962.
Family Life:
Smt. Patil is married to Dr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat. Dr. Shekhawat obtained his Ph.D. in the discipline of Chemistry from Haffkine Institute, Mumbai. An educationist and a social worker in his own right, he became the first Mayor of Amravati Municipal Corporation and he has also represented Amravati constituency as its MLA. She has two children, a daughter, Smt. Jyoti Rathore and a son, Shri Rajendra Singh.
M. PIRAVI PERUMAL (Advocate & Consumer Rights) 26 July 2009
Pratibha Patil was born to Narayan Rao Patil in Nadgaon, Maharashtra. She studied at R.R. School at Jalgaon. She received her MA from Mooljee Jaitha (M.J.) College, Jalgaon (affiliated to
She married educator Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat on July 7, 1965.[6] The couple have a son and daughter.
Together with her husband, she set up an educational institute, Vidya Bharati Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which runs a chain of schools and colleges in Jalgaon and Mumbai.[7] She has also set up Shram Sadhana Trust that runs hostels for working women in
Pratibha Patil began her political career in 1962 at the age of 27. Under the mentorship of senior Congress leaders like Dr Abasaheb Gopalrao Khedkar and ex-Chief Minister Yashwantrao Chavan,[8] she became a deputy minister for education after re-election in 1967 (in the Vasantrao Naik ministry). In her next terms (1972-78) she was a full cabinet minister for the state. In successive congress governments, she handled the portfolios of tourism, social welfare and housing under several chief ministers, Vasantdada Patil, Babasaheb Bhosle, S. B. Chavan and Sharad Pawar. She was continually re-elected to the assembly, either from Jalgaon or the nearby Edlabad constituencies, until 1985, when she was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Congress candidate. She has never lost an election that she has contested.[9]
In 1977, the Congress party split up after Indira Gandhi's defeat following the Indian Emergency (1975–1977). Many senior leaders of state Congress(I), including Pratibha's mentor Chavan and his protege Sharad Pawar, as well as much of the rank and file joined the Congress (Urs) party floated by Devraj Urs. However, Pratibha preferred to remain with Indira Gandhi, though it verged on inviting political ridicule. In fact, few know that Pratibha managed Indira Gandhi's kitchen when Sanjay Gandhi died.[10] She protested the arrest of Indira Gandhi in December 1977 and spent 10 days in prison.[11] In 1978, when the Congress (Urs) came to power in
In 1980, the Congress (I) swept back into power, and her name was considered a front-runner for the Chief Minister's post. However, the post went to Sanjay Gandhi's confidant A. R. Antulay, who was soon forced to resign on corruption charges. Subsequently, she became a minister again in the Vasantdada Patil ministry. Following differences between Patil and then Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Prabha Rau, Rajiv Gandhi appointed her as MPCC chief (1988-90).
In 123 Patil was elected to the Rajya Sabha, and served as its deputy chairperson from November 1986 to November 1988. Her term expired in April 1990. The following year, in the elections when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated she won the election for the 10th Lok Sabha from Amravati constituency, her husband's city, where he had once been mayor, thus first time entering in lower house of national parliament Lok Sabha.
She has also served as Director of National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks & Credit Societies and the Member of Governing Council, National Co-operative, Union of India.
Pratibha Patil as Governor of Rajasthan
In November 2004, eight years after she had completed her term in the 10th Lok Sabha, Pratibha Patil was recalled from political hibernation[9] to become the first woman Governor of Rajasthan. She was the second politician from Maharashtra in this post, the first being Vasantdada Patil. With Pratibha Patil as Governor, Rajasthan had women in three significant positions of power in the state, including Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Assembly Speaker Sumitra Singh.[12]
In April 2006, the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly passed the Rajasthan Freedom of Religion Bill 2006 (originally titled as "Rajasthan Dharma Swatantrya Bill, 2006"). The objective of the bill was to control "unlawful conversion from one religion to another by allurement or by fraudulent means or forcibly." However, some Christian organizations opposed the bill alleging that the bill was an outcome of the rightist policies of Sangh Parivar.[13][14] Pratibha Patil returned the bill unsigned, stating certain clauses in the Bill infringed on "the fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and expression, freedom of conscience and freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion."[15]
The Government of Rajasthan re-sent the bill to her in May 2006 noting that similar anti-conversion laws enacted by Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa over 40 years ago were upheld by the Supreme Court of India and that the head of the Constituent Assembly, Dr B R Ambedkar, while drafting Article 25 of the Constitution had said that it would be best to leave it to the state legislatures to make laws to regulate conversions.[14] After sitting on the bill for over a year she sent it to the President of India just a day before she resigned as governor of Rajasthan.[16] A similar bill named Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act 2006 passed later was promptly signed by the state governor.
Pratibha Patil resigned as the Governor of Rajasthan on June 21, 2007, due to her presidential candidacy.[17]
Main article: Indian presidential election, 2007
On 14 June, United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the ruling alliance of political parties in India headed by Congress (I), and the Indian left nominated her as their candidate for the Presidential Election to be held on 19 July 2007.[18] She emerged as a compromise candidate after the Left parties would not agree to the nomination of past Home Minister Shivraj Patil. At that point, Sonia Gandhi proposed Pratibha Patil's name. Her loyalty to Nehru-Gandhi family was widely perceived to be a major factor in her nomination as UPA-Left Presidential candidate.[19]
As a result of the potential that she would become the first female President of India, UPA Chairwoman Sonia Gandhi described her nomination as a "historic occasion" in India's 60th year of independence.
Before leaving Jaipur for New Delhi, she thanked Sonia Gandhi for choosing her and said that her first job as president would be to make National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) started by UPA a success.[20] In Delhi she asserted that she would not be a rubber stamp president.[19]
Accompanied by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi she filed her nomination on 23 June which was found to be valid after scrutiny. She faced Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, an NDA supported candidate, in a straight contest, and visited state capitals to garner support. Her campaign got a major boost with decision of UNPA to abstain from voting.
The Leader of the Opposition L K Advani sought intervention of Election Commission of India to get Pratibha Patil to declare her assets,[21] but this was rejected by the Commission.
Shiv Sena, an important ally of NDA, declared its support to Pratibha Patil on the grounds that she will be the first Maharashtrian to hold this prestigious post. This decision of Shiv Sena created trouble in BJP-Sena alliance.[22]
Patil with President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev in India on 5 December 2008.
She won the presidential election held on July 19, 2007 defeating her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by over 300,000 votes. She took office as India's first female president on July 25, 2007.
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Former Indian President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam had set very high standards for his successor. Even before he was elected as President, Dr. Kalam was known for his illustrious past as a scientist, innovator and visionary. During his term as President, he endeared himself to people of all ages and came to be known as the 'People's President' or the humble 'President of the masses'. While in office, he constantly sought ways to transform India into a knowledge superpower using science and technology. His vision for India advocated an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and into a developed nation by the year 2020.[23]
In comparison, there were several questions raised about Pratibha Patil's credibility even before she was elected as President, as her name and that of her family members figured in several financial scams and other crimes.[24][25][26][27] Even after being elected as President, Pratibha Patil is more in the news for her bungle ups and matters irrelevant to the country, than for her efficiency as Head of the Nation. Forgetting to salute to the Indian flag at a ceremonial reception for her in Mexico,[28] having conversations with spirits of the dead,[29][30][31] insulting remarks on Indian culture and tradition,[32] and regular, expensive, state sponsored holiday trips with more than a dozen family members.[33] At a holiday trip in the Andaman islands, more than 400 trees were chopped to make way for a helipad for the President's chopper and another 60 trees were felled as they would block the President's view of the beach.[34]
Referring to her largely ceremonial post, President Pratibha Patil had stated that she will not be a 'rubber stamp' President[35][36] but her accomplishments so far, have not accorded her a stamp of approval from the people.[37][38]
Since Pratibha Patil's nomination as a presidential candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have highlighted her past activities and made comments as part of its political campaign against her.
BJP leader Arun Shourie authored two articles published as a booklet titled 'Does This Tainted Person Deserve to Become President of India?'.[39] Another BJP leader, Arun Jaitley, announced the launch of a website called Know Pratibha Patil, which contains various media reports and documents concerning the questionable financial dealings of both Patil and her family.[40] The campaign generated a lot of media attention on Pratibha Patil as a controversial and unworthy presidential candidate.[citation needed]
While the BJP has been trying to build a strong public opinion against her, it clarified that it was not challenging her nomination on legal grounds.[41]
An advocate Manohar Lal Sharma has filed a Public Interest Litigation before a bench of Supreme Court of India comprising Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Justice P K Balasubramanyan challenging her nomination for the presidential election 2007. The advocate has referred to the various allegations against Patil and her family members and sought the cancellation of her nomination papers on the ground of her being an undischarged insolvent. The petitioner raised legal and constitutional questions on whether a person declared to be an 'undischarged insolvent', for not clearing a debt to the public exchequer and others, was eligible to be elected president.[42][43]
The apex court however observed that it could not act on mere allegations, and rejected the petition at the admission stage[44] itself. The court said there was no merit in the petition as there was no document to substantiate the allegations[45] and raised doubts about the petitioners real intention adding it was more of a "private interest litigation".[46] The court ruled:
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This petition is filed under Article 32 of the Constitution. We find no ground to interfere and exercise our jurisdiction. However, this will not prevent the petitioner from approaching appropriate authorities for redressal of his grievances.[46] |
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The advocate then approached the Election Commission of India seeking her disqualification. The Election Commission, through an order, replied:
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The question whether a person has become insolvent and whether he/she is still an undischarged insolvent has to be decided by the competent insolvency court under the provisions of the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920, and not by the Commission. The Commission is not the appropriate forum. No action is called for on the part of the Commission on your representation.[44] |
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Following this, the advocate again approached the court and filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before a bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran. He contended that the Election Commission had not applied its mind to the matter, and sought quashing of the commission's order.[44]
In another case a Delhi-based NGO has also filed a petition before the Delhi High Court alleging that Patil being Managing Trustee of Mumbai-based Shram Sadhana Bombay Trust, which is under the control of state government, was holding the office of profit making her ineligible to contest the President's election.[47] The High Court deferred the hearing until after election.
The leaders of Indian National Congress and Indian left say that these facts highlighted are a clever mixture of truth, half-truths and exaggerations.[48] They have also said that these issues have never been raised in the past while she was a deputy chairwoman of the Rajya Sabha, or during her tenure as a governor. They accused the BJP of launching a "malicious, unsubstantiated and deliberate" slanderous campaign just to damage her reputation.[49][50][51] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended Pratibha Patil and dismissed the charges as "mud-slinging".[52] On Monday 2 July 2007 breaking her long silence Pratibha Patil described the allegations leveled against her as "false, malicious and baseless".[53]
Prominent allegations against her that have been controversial are:
Main article: Vishram Patil murder case
On June 22, 2007, Rajni Patil, a professor of Marathi in a Jalgaon college, and the widow of murdered Jalgaon congressman Vishram G Patil in a press conference claimed that her husband was murdered by Pratibha Patil's brother G.N.Patil. She accused Pratibha Patil of shielding her brother. She further said that she had written to Sonia Gandhi and President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam giving details about the allegations. Copies of her memorandum to the President on this issue were distributed to the press by Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, an aide of Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani.[54][55]
On 13 July, 2007 Rajani Patil moved the Bombay High Court demanding that the CBI "interrogate" UPA's presidential candidate Pratibha Patil and her brother in connection with the case before the presidential poll. Rajni Patil's petition stated that the CBI, which was directed by the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court to probe the case in February, must question Pratibha before July 19, the date for the presidential election because she might get "presidential immunity" if she wins the poll.[56]
The lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said that two CDs have surfaced which contain incriminating material against Patil's brother. The CDs contain footage of the elections for the district Congress presidentship in Jalgaon. Jethmalani offered to place both CDs on record, saying "These contain vital information showing the political link behind the murder." [1]
Main article: Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank
Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, a cooperative bank set up by Pratibha Patil in 1973 in her name, to empower women, had its license revoked in 2003 by the Reserve Bank of India for alleged financial irregularities. Among the reasons listed by the RBI for cancellation of the license was the faulty loan policy of the bank and loan interest waivers given, among others, to Pratibha Patil's relatives.[57] Pratibha Patil was one of the chairpersons of the Bank and along with a number of her relatives, was one of its directors. She is currently one of the 34 respondents in an ongoing case in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on the subject of mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds by its Managing Directors.[58][59]
In her defence, her supporters point out that she was not the founding president[60] of the bank, and that she held the job of the chairwoman for only a month and eight days.[61] They also point out that the RBI has never mentioned Patil's name in the report,[60] and the court has not charge-sheeted her.[62] Communist leader A.B. Bardhan cast doubts on the credibility of the official employees union of the bank, which has been highlighting the issue of the banks mismanagement since 2002, drawing attention to the fact that it is associated with the BMS union led by the BJP.[62]
Main article: Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana
A cooperative sugar factory - Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana - of which Pratibha was a founder member, was found to be a drug trafficking ring, was declared a defaulter for failing to repay a Rs 17.5 crore (Rs 175 million) bank loan.[63] Pratibha Patil had been its chairwoman and director till she became the Governor of Rajasthan.[64] The loan was taken in 1994 when Pratibha was its chairwoman, but the factory has failed to repay the full amount. The bank sealed the factory on January 23, 2007 after issuing many reminders. This was the second occasion the mill had been sealed. Earlier, it was sealed in January 2006, but was reopened after the board of directors headed by G. N. Patil - younger brother of Pratibha Patil - requested for an opportunity to improve the performance of the mill.[65]
In 2002 the chief commissioner of central excise and customs, Pune, issued notice to the factory for evading excise duty resulting from diversion of export-oriented sugar by the factory into domestic market.
Dubbing as "malign campaign" the allegations, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, defended Pratibha and noted that there was never any enquiry under Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act against her. He also pointed out that as many as 74 mills were issued notices in December 2006, and it was "unfortunate that only one particular case has been brought up in the media". Pawar said most of the mills had failed to repay the loans because of persistent drought affecting sugarcane production, leading these mills to go sick.[66]
Nevertheless in 2007, Manohar Lal Sharma, an independent advocate, filed a public interest litigation petition in the Supreme Court alleging that Mrs Pratibha Patil was an undischarged insolvent relating to the Sant Muktabai Sugar Factory and hence disqualified to remain in the office of the presidency.[67]
Main article: Shrama Sadhna Trust
According to the Economic Times the Shrama Sadhna Trust, a charitable trust in Mumbai of which Ms Patil is the managing trustee, is alleged to have siphoned funds totaling Rs 4.16 crore (Rs 41.6 million) between 2001 and 2003 from an engineering polytechnic run by it in Jalgaon.[68]
As Member of Parliament from Amravati between 1991 and 1996 Pratibha Patil had diverted Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million) from her MPLADS fund to a trust run by her husband Devisingh Shekhawat. This was in violation of Government rules which barred MPs from providing funds to organisation run by their relatives.[69][70]
On 10 December 1975, when she was the Health Minister of Maharashtra, Pratibha Patil advocated in Maharashtra Assembly that people with hereditary diseases should be compulsorily sterilised.[71]
On June 17, 2007, Pratibha Patil made remarks on the Purdah system, while addressing a congregation of Rajputs in Udaipur:[72]
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Women have always been respected in the Indian culture. The purdah system was introduced to protect them from the Muslim invaders. However, times have changed. India is now independent and hence, the systems should also change. Now that women are progressing in every field, we should morally support and encourage them by leaving such practices behind.[73] |
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Patil claims to have spoken to the spirit of the deceased leader (Baba Lekhraj[74]) of the at their headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.[74]
"Dadiji ke shareer mein Baba aye ... Maine unse baat ki (Baba entered Devi’s body and he communicated to me through her)," she said on TV camera.[75] Reporters began to report on the message she received of a "divine indication" of great responsibility coming her way.[76]
Pratibha Patil in North-east India
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Period |
Position |
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1967-72 |
Deputy Minister,N.H.E.A.,Scav, Public Health, Prohibition, Tourism, Housing & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Maharashtra |
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1972-74 |
Cabinet Minister, Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
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1974-75 |
Cabinet Minister, Public Health & Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
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1975-76 |
Cabinet Minister, Prohibition, Rehabilitation and Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra |
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1977-78 |
Cabinet Minister, Education, Government of Maharashtra |
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July 1979 to February 1980 |
Leader of Opposition, CDP (I), Maharashtra Legislative Assembly |
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1982-85 |
Cabinet Minister, Urban Development and Housing, Government of Maharashtra |
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1983-85 |
Cabinet Minister, Civil Supplies and Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra |
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November 18, 1986 to November 5, 1988 |
Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha |
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1986-88 |
Chairperson, Committee of Privileges, Rajya Sabha; Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha |
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1991-96 |
Chairperson, House Committee, Lok Sabha |
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November 8, 2004-June 2007 |
Governor of Rajasthan |
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July 25, 2007 to date |
President of India |
N.K.Assumi (Advocate) 26 July 2009
Dear Sir, Piravi, Thank you so much for your valuable contributions. I have seen some of her wanderful works ans so I ask for the profile. Thank you once again.
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