Biography

Father's Name       	Late Shri P. Bashiah                    

Date of Birth       	10 August 1929

Place of Birth      	Mamidipalli, Distt. Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)    

Marital Status      	Married on 2 June 1955

Spouse's Name       	Dr.(Smt.) P. Lakshmibai                 

Children            	Two sons and  one daughter

Educational Qualifications  

               	B.A.(Hons.), LL.B.

               	Educated at Hindu College, Amritsar and Law College,
               	Osmania University, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)

Profession         

                Political and Social Worker

Permanent Address  

		3-6-105, Sree Sadan,
		Himayat Nagar,
		Hyderabad-500029

		Tels. (040) 3226100, 3222101

Present Address  

		6, Teen Murti Lane,
		New Delhi-110011

		Tel. (011) 3017752

Positions Held  

1974-75		Judge, Andhra Pradesh High Court

1979            Elected to 6th Lok Sabha

1980            Re-elected to 7th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
                               
                Union Cabinet Minister, Law, Justice and Company
                Affairs

1982            Union Cabinet Minister, Petroleum, Chemicals and
                Fertilizers
                
1982-84         Union Cabinet Minister, Energy, in-Charge of
                Petroleum, Coal, Power and Non-Conventional Sources 
		of Energy

1985-87 and     Member, Rajya Sabha (two terms)
1987-93	
 	
1986            Union Cabinet Minister, Commerce; and
		Food and Civil Supplies (Additional Charge)
		                              
                Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs; and
		Commerce (Additional Charge)

1987-88         Union Cabinet Minister, Planning, Programme
                Implementation; and Law and Justice (Additional
		Charge)
                               
                Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

1988-89         Union Cabinet Minister, Human Resource
		Development
                               
                Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha

1989-91         Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha

1991            Leader, Congress Parliamentary Party (C.P.P.), Rajya Sabha

1994-95         Governor, Sikkim

1995-96         Governor, Kerala

1998            Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (3rd term)

		Deputy Leader, C.P.P., Lok Sabha

1998-99         Chairman, Committee of Privileges
           
                Member, Committee on External Affairs  and 
	        its Sub-Committee-II

                Member, Business Advisory Committee

		Member, General Purposes Committee 

		Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of
		Finance   

Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments  

Contributed a large number of articles and research papers
to different magazines and books

Social and Cultural Activities  

Associated with a large number of social and educational
organisations

Special Interests  

Social and educational activities

Countries Visited  

Widely travelled; Leader, Indian Delegation to (i) the
Annual Session of the Asian African Legal Consultative
Committee,Jakarta, 1980; (ii) the Commonwealth Law Ministers'
Conference, Barbados, 1980; (iii) the UN Conference on the
Law of the Sea, Geneva, 1980; (iv) the Inter-Parliamentary
Union meetings, Manila, 1981; and Leader, (i) Delegation
of Lawyers and Members of Parliament to former U.S.S.R.,
1981; Delegation of Lawyers to Vietnam, 1981; and (ii) as
Prime Minister's Special Emissary, visited Bangladesh and
Nepal in 1985; Member, 44th CPC, Wellington, Newzealand,
October, 1998

Other Information  

Participated in Freedom Struggle; Vice-Chairman, Bar
Council, Andhra Pradesh, 1965; Government Pleader, Andhra
Pradesh High Court, 1969; Chairman, Disciplinary Committee,
Bar Council, Andhra Pradesh, 1970; Principal Government
Pleader, Andhra Pradesh, 1972;  Counsel for Smt. Indira Gandhi, 
1977; as Union Law Minister, introduced Legal Aid Scheme 
and Policy of transfer of judges