The Cabinet is an amalgamation of various members with different educational qualifications, regional backgrounds and varied professions. There have been PhD scholars, CAs, Postgraduates, Doctors and others but lawyers seem to lead the pack. For the lack of knowledge about our leaders, not many know that many of them hold a degree in law and are quite acclaimed in that space as well. The abundance of Law graduates in the Cabinet surely determines the nature of work and governance of the country.
The present Narendra Modi government has as many as 15 cabinet members who hold a degree in Law and most of them head important offices, like the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, both of whom are prominent lawyers and at the same time prolific politicians as well. Minister of Road Transport &Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of Consumer Affairs Ram Vilas Paswan also have a law degree.
In the past, Manmohan Singh’s government also had prolific lawyers as a part of its cabinet. Kapil Sibal who served as Minister of Law & Justice from 2009-2014 and Minister of Science & Technology from 2004-2009 is one of the most prominent lawyers of India. The ex-president Pranab Mukherjee, the first woman speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar and the current chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath also hold a law degree.
Ram Jethmalani, one on India’s biggest lawyer, also served as Minister of Law & Justice in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet in 1999.
The work of Cabinet Ministers includes a lot of policymaking, understanding of the constitution and also the knowledge of new legislation or regulations, which can be one of the main reasons for having so many lawyers as a part of the cabinet. The Indian Constitution is mainly framed on the lines of legal governance so in order to properly understand and decode it a degree in law proves to be quite helpful. Most of them hold important portfolios in the government, are acclaimed leaders, excel in their departments and most of all know how to govern. A quality which differentiates from others and the governments seem to realise it to the very best.
Lawyers in the Cabinet
|
Third Vajpayee Ministry (1999-2004) | Designation | Ministers |
| Deputy PM | L K Advani | |
| Minister of Railways |
Mamta Banerjee
| |
| Minister of Labour | Satya Narayan Jatia | |
| Minister of Health and Family Welfare | Sushma Swaraj | |
| Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas | Ram Naik | |
| Minister of Textiles | Kashiram Rana | |
| Minister of Rural Development | Venkiah Naidu | |
| Minister of Mines | Ram Vilas Paswan | |
| Minister of Law and Justice | Ram Jethmalani | |
| Minister of Law and Justice | Arun Jaitley | |
| Minister of Law and Justice | Jana Krishnamurthy | |
|
First Manmohan Ministry (2004-2009) | Designations | Ministers |
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | Kamal Nath | |
| Minister of Defence | Pranab Mukherjee | |
| Minister of Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers | Ram Vilas Paswan | |
| Minister of Information and Broadcasting | Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi | |
| Minister of Home Affairs | Shivraj Patil | |
| Minister of Power | Sushil Kumar Shinde | |
| Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment | Meira Kumar | |
| Minister of Minority Affairs | AR Antulay | |
| Minister of Science and Technology | Kapil Sibal | |
|
Second Manmohan Ministry (2009-2014) | Designation | Ministers |
| Minister of Defence | A K Antony | |
| Minister of External Affairs | Salman Khurshid | |
| Minister of Home Affairs | Sushil Kumar Shinde | |
| Minister of Communication and IT Minister of Law and Justice | Kapil Sibal | |
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | Anand Sharma | |
| Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas | Veerappa Moily | |
| Minister of Water Resources | Harish Rawat | |
| Minister of Urban Development Minister of Parliamentary Affairs | Kamal Nath | |
| Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs | Vayalar Ravi | |
| Minister of Railways Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment | Mallikaarjun Khorge | |
|
Modi Ministry (2014-2019) | Designation | Ministers |
| Minister of External Affairs | Sushma Swaraj | |
| Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs | Arun Jaitley | |
| Minister of Information and Broadcasting | Venkaih Naidu | |
| Minister of Railways Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers | D V Sadananda Gowda | |
| Minister of Road Transport and Highways Minister of Shipping |
Nitin Gadkari
| |
| Minister of Law and Justice | Ravi Shankar Prasad | |
| Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation | Chaudhary Brinder Singh | |
| Minister of Consumer Affairs | Ram Vilas Paswan | |
| Minister of Parliamentary Affairs | Ananth Kumar | |
| Minister of Health and Family Welfare | Jagat Prakash Nadda | |
| Minister of Statistics and Program Implementation | Rao Inderjit Singh |