Kapil Sibal Biography

About Kapil Sibal

Kapil Sibal is an Indian politician. He was the Minister of Communications & Information Technology and the Union Minister of Law & Justice under UPA government. As a lawyer, Sibal has handled some of the challenging portfolios such as Additional Solicitor General of India and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Sibal's mettle as a politician was tested during the UPA regime when he was given the charge of various ministries including the Ministry of Science & Technology and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Kapil Sibal was also the Member of Parliament from the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi from 2004 to 2014. However in 2014 Lok Sabha elections he lost the seat to Dr. Harsh Vardhan of BJP.

Kapil Sibal's Personal Background

Sibal was born on 8 August 1948 in Jalandhar, Punjab. His father H L Sibal, was a distinguished advocate who received the title of a "Living Legend of the Law" and was also honoured with the 'Padma Bhushan'award. After Sibal did his schooling from St John's High School in Chandigarh, he moved to Delhi in 1964 and joined St. Stephen's College. After completing LL.B, he went on to earn a Masters degree in History. In 1970, he joined the bar association and three years later, he qualified for Indian Administrative Services. Despite getting an appointment, he didn't take up the assignment under the pretext of setting up his own practice.

Sibal enrolled himself at the Harvard Law School to pursue LL.M which he completed in 1977. Before joining Harvard, he got married to Nina Sibal in 1973. His sons, Amit and Akhil both are lawyers. Five years after his wife's death in 2000, Sibal married social activist Promila Sibal. His brother, Kanwal Sibal is the ex-Foreign Secretary of India.

How Did Sibal Enter Politics?

Kapil Sibal started off with his career in 1970 after joining the Bar Association. It took him 13 years to qualify as a Senior Lawyer in 1983. In less than six years, he was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India. In his capacity as a lawyer, he held different positions in the Government of India. Sibal also went on to become the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 1995. However, his political breakthrough happened in 1998, when he was elected as the member of the Rajya Sabha.

Political Journey of Kapil Sibal

• Kapil Sibal served as the Additional Solicitor General of India from Dec 1989 to Dec 1990.
• In 1998, he was elected as a Member of the Rajya Sabha.
• From 2000 to 2002, he remained the Secretary of Congress Parliamentary Party.
• He was appointed as the Member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Stock Market Scam in Apr 2001, and he handled the responsibility till Dec 2002.


• Simultaneously, he became the Member of Business Advisory Committee in Aug 2001.
• In 2002, Kapil Sibal was made the Member of Committee on Home Affairs.
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time, in 2004.
• On 23 May 2004, Sibal became the Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences.
• Sibal was re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha in 2009.
• In the same year, he was appointed as the Minister of Human Resource Development. He held on to his position till 28 Oct 2012.
• On 19 Jan 2011, Kapil took over the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.
• He also took the additional charge of the Ministry of Law & Justice in May 2013.

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Activities and Achievements

• Several significant strides that the UPA government took in the field of HRD and IT & Communications are attributed to Kapil Sibal's visionary leadership.
• He introduced the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system in India for Class IX and Class X, and led through the changes in the IIT JEE pattern.
• Sibal not only approved the creation of an Indian Institute of Technology in Muddenahalli, but has also laid the foundation stone for IIT Patna.
• Sibal was the first-ever Indian MP to visit the research sites in Antarctica and motivate the scientists. He also inaugurated India's own research station (Himadri) in July 2008, making India the 11th country to have established a full-fledged research station in the Arctic zone.
• The establishment of National Tsunami Early Warning System at Hyderabad in October 2007 is also attributed to Sibal's futuristic planning. The system has the capability to detect earthquakes bigger than the magnitude of 6 occurring in the Indian Ocean in less than 20 minutes of occurrence.
• Sibal also represented India in the World Economic Forum held at Davos, Switzerland in 2005 and 2009.
• He led the team of Indian delegates to the Annapolis Conference in the US to garner global support for the establishment of Israeli–Palestinian peace.
• He led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Bali, in December 2007.
• As an author, he has many published poems to his name. His anthology of poems titled "I Witness: Partial Observation" was published in New Delhi in August 2008.

Criticism

Kapil Sibal was handling the Telecom Ministry when he came under fierce criticism for stating that the exchequer incurred "zero loss" in the 2G spectrum scam. It was also during his tenure that his decision to regulate online content was antagonized across social networking sites.

Kapil Sibal Elections result

Awards Won

• He has been honoured with the 'Padma Bhushan' award for his distinguished services in the field of Public Affairs in 2006, by the Government of India.
• In 2009, Kapil Sibal was inducted into the Honorary Senate of the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureates Meetings for his contribution in the field of science and technology.
• In 2010, the New York-based Institute of International Education conferred upon Sibal the prestigious 'Stephen P Duggan Award for mutual understanding', for his support towards 'fostering global collaboration in education'.