Politics & Leadership Indian Politics

Arun Jaitley

Former Finance Minister of India (2014–2019) and senior advocate

28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019 India Verified by our editors

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Lived: 66 yrs; 1952 – 2019
Works listed: 0; Career highlights
Honours: 1; Most recent 2020
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Quick facts

Born: 28 December 1952
New Delhi, India
Died: 24 August 2019 (aged 66)
Country: India
Occupation: Lawyer, Politician
Years active: 1974–2019
Known for: Introducing the Goods and Services Tax; the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
Offices: Finance Minister (2014–2019); Defence Minister (2014, 2017); Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha (2014–2019)
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Education: Shri Ram College of Commerce; Faculty of Law, University of Delhi
Spouse: Sangeeta Jaitley (m. 1982)
Children: Sonali Jaitley, Rohan Jaitley
Cricket administration: President, Delhi & District Cricket Association; vice-president, BCCI
Stadium named after him: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi (2019)
Star sign: Capricorn
Website: arunjaitley.com

Arun Jaitley · Photo: Photo: Ministry of Defence / GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons

Also in Politics & Leadership

Arun Jaitley was a senior Supreme Court advocate and BJP strategist who served as Finance Minister in Narendra Modi’s first government, steering the introduction of the nationwide Goods and Services Tax in 2017.

Biography

Student leader and lawyer

Jaitley studied commerce at Shri Ram College of Commerce and law at the University of Delhi, where he became president of the Delhi University Students’ Union in 1974 as a member of the ABVP. He was detained for 19 months during the Emergency.

He built a prominent legal practice, was designated a senior advocate and served as Additional Solicitor General of India in 1989.

Minister under Vajpayee

Jaitley entered the Vajpayee government in 1999 and held the information and broadcasting, law and justice, and commerce and industry portfolios. He became one of the BJP’s chief strategists and a leading voice in televised debates and Parliament, serving as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 2009 to 2014.

Finance Minister

As Finance Minister from 2014 to 2019, also handling defence for two short spells, Jaitley oversaw the passage of the constitutional amendment and rollout of the Goods and Services Tax in July 2017, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016 and the government’s economic response to demonetisation. Ill health led him to step back in 2019, and he died in New Delhi on 24 August 2019.

A keen cricket administrator, he led the Delhi & District Cricket Association; Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground was renamed the Arun Jaitley Stadium in his memory.

Lawyer

Jaitley appeared in many landmark cases before the Supreme Court and high courts, and represented clients including multinational companies and political leaders. He was involved in documentation for the Bofors investigation as Additional Solicitor General in 1989.

Strategist

Within the BJP Jaitley was the chief crafter of election strategy and party positions, and was close to Narendra Modi from his time as Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was respected across party lines for his debating skills and his willingness to negotiate; the passage of the GST owed much to his work with state governments through the GST Council.

Timeline

1952

Born in New Delhi, India
1974

President, Delhi University Students’ Union

Elected as an ABVP candidate.
1975

Detained during the Emergency

Held for 19 months.
1989

Additional Solicitor General of India

Appointed at 37.
1999

Union minister

Joins the Vajpayee government.
2000

Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs
2009

Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha

Until 2014.
2014

Finance Minister

In the first Modi government.
2016

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code enacted
2017

GST launched

Nationwide Goods and Services Tax takes effect on 1 July.
2019

Dies in New Delhi

On 24 August.
2019

Feroz Shah Kotla stadium renamed after him
2020

Padma Vibhushan (posthumous)

India’s second-highest civilian honour.
2019

Died, aged 66