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{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{morefootnotes|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Punjala Shiv Shankar
|native_name =
|image =
|order = 12th
|office = Governor of Kerala
|term_start = 12 November 1995
|term_end = 1 May 1996
|1blankname = Chief Minister
|1namedata = [[A. K. Antony]]
|predecessor = [[B. Rachaiah]]
|successor = [[Khurshid Alam Khan]]
|order1 = 8th
|office1 = Governor of Sikkim
|1blankname1 = Chief Minister
|1namedata1 = [[Sanchaman Limboo]] [[Pawan Kumar Chamling]]
|term_start1 = 21 September 1994
|term_end1 = 11 November 1995
|predecessor1 = [[Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani]]
|successor1 = [[K. V. Raghunatha Reddy]] (Additional charge)
|office2 = 12th [[Minister of Law and Justice]]
|primeminister2 = [[Rajiv Gandhi]]
|term_start2 = 25 July 1987
|term_end2 = 14 February 1988
|predecessor2 = [[Ashoke Kumar Sen]]
|successor2 = [[Bindeshwari Dubey]]
|primeminister3 = [[Indira Gandhi]]
|term_start3 = 14 January 1980
|term_end3 = 15 January 1982
|predecessor3 = S. N. Kacker
|successor3 = [[Jagannath Kaushal]]
|office4 = 14th [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs]]
|primeminister4 = Rajiv Gandhi
|term_start4 = 12 May 1986
|term_end4 = 22 October 1986
|predecessor4 = [[Bali Ram Bhagat]]
|successor4 = [[N. D. Tiwari]]
|office5 = 10th [[Ministry of Power (India)|Minister of Power]]
|primeminister5 = Indira Gandhi
|term_start5 = 2 September 1982
|term_end5 = 31 December 1984
|predecessor5 = [[K. C. Pant]]
|successor5 = [[B. Shankaranand]]
|office6 = 20th [[Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas|Minister of Petroleum]]
|primeminister6 = Indira Gandhi
|term_start6 = 15 January 1982
|term_end6 = 31 December 1984
|predecessor6 = P. C. Sethi
|successor6 = Naval K. Sharma

|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1929|08|10}}
|birth_place = Mamidipalli, [[Hyderabad State]], [[British India]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2017|2|27|1929|08|10}}
|death_place = [[Hyderabad District (India)|Hyderabad District]], [[Telangana]], [[India]]
|party = [[Indian National Congress]] (till 2008, 2011 until his death) [[Praja Rajyam Party]] (2008–2011)
|nationality = [[Indian nationality|Indian]]
|spouse = Dr. P. Lakshmibai
|children = 2 sons and 1 daughter
Sons = 1. P.Sudhir Kumar,2. Dr.P.Vinay Kumar
|alma_mater = [[Osmania University]]
}}

'''Punjala Shiv Shankar''' (10 August 1929 – 27 February 2017) was an Indian politician. He served as the Minister of [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|External Affairs]], [[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Law]], and [[Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (India)|Petroleum]]. He was a very influential minister in [[Indira Gandhi]]'s and [[Rajiv Gandhi]]'s cabinets and was one of the most senior politicians in India. He also served as [[Governor of Sikkim|Governor]] of [[Sikkim]] from 1994 to 1995 and [[Governor of Kerala|Governor]] of [[Kerala]] from 1995 to 1996.<ref name=bio>{{cite web |url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok12/biodata/12ap14.htm |title= Biographical sketch of P. Shiv Shankar on Parliament of India website|author= [[National Informatics Centre]], [[New Delhi]] |date= |work= |publisher= National Informatics Centre, New Delhi|accessdate=5 April 2013}}</ref>

==Personal life==
P. Shiv Shankar was born on 10 August 1929 in Mamidipalli, [[Hyderabad district, India|District of Hyderabad]], [[British India]] ''(Now in [[Telangana]], India)'' to the Late Shri P. Bashiah. He studied [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] at Hindu College, Amritsar and [[Bachelor of law|LL.B.]] at Law College, [[Osmania University]], [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]]. He was married to Dr. (Smt.) P. Lakshmibai on 2 June 1955. He has two sons and one daughter.<ref name=bio />

==Career==
P. Shiv Shankar worked to serve the poor and worked for the welfare of his country. He was a judge in the [[Andhra Pradesh High Court]] during 1974 and 1975. He was elected to [[6th Lok Sabha|6th]] [[Lok Sabha]] from [[Secunderabad (Lok Sabha constituency)|Secunderabad]] in 1979. He was a member of the [[Indian National Congress]] political party.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/members/partyardetail.aspx?party_code=34 |title= 6th Lok Sabha members from Congress party on Lok Sabha website|author= [[National Informatics Centre]], [[New Delhi]] |date= |work= |publisher= National Informatics Centre, New Delhi|accessdate=6 April 2013}}</ref> He was re-elected from same constituency in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/members/partyardetail.aspx?party_code=35 |title= 7th Lok Sabha members from Congress (I) party on Lok Sabha website|author= [[National Informatics Centre]], [[New Delhi]] |date= |work= |publisher= National Informatics Centre, New Delhi|accessdate=6 April 2013}}</ref> He was made [[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Law Minister]] in [[Third Indira Gandhi Ministry]] in 1980. Shiv Shankar had held several positions in the Government, it was his stint as the Union Law Minister in Indira Gandhi Cabinet, after her return to power in 1980, which was the turning point in India's judiciary. As Union Law Minister, Shiv Shankar was responsible for the issue of circulars, attempting to transfer judges. On 18 March 1981, Shiv Shankar, as the Law Minister, addressed a circular to the governors and chief ministers of all States requesting them to elicit from additional judges... their agreement to be transferred to any high court.
The reasons mentioned in the circular were that such a policy of transfer would help national integration, combat narrow and parochial tendencies like caste, kinship, and other local considerations. But the circular was largely seen as an expression of no-confidence in the judiciary and a device to punish the inconvenient judges. Granville Austin, in his Working A Democratic Constitution: The Indian Experience (1999), said about the circular: "This threw kerosene on existing flames when it became public knowledge in mid-April (1981) that the circular asked the recipients to obtain from the additional judges in the state’s high court ‘their consent to be appointed permanent judges in any other high court (they might indicate three courts in order of preference) and to obtain from potential judges ‘their consent to be appointed to any other high court in the country.’"
The written consents and preferences were to be sent to Shiv Shankar within two weeks. In the Lok Sabha, Shiv Shankar asked if the independence of the Judiciary meant "touch-me-not". He seemed to confirm that he sent the circular without consulting the then Chief Justice of India, Y.V.Chandrachud.
What happened thereafter is history. On 30 December 1981, the Supreme Court's seven Judge bench gave its decision in S.P.Gupta vs Union of India, in which the Court held that Shiv Shankar's circular was not unconstitutional, because it had no legal force in the first place. In his book, Austin refers to different perceptions of Shiv Shankar during this period.
One school of thought believed that he intended to reduce judicial independence, and he carefully avoided recommending for appointment judges unfriendly to Mrs.Gandhi, the then Prime Minister.
Another body of opinion, Austin notes, held that his circular was not intended to intimidate judges into ruling in favour of the government. Shiv Shankar was not averse to ‘shaking up’ judges partly to caution them when considering the government's interest, but his principal motivation seems to have been in class and caste consciousness. As Austin puts it: "To him, judges were intellectuals or Brahmins, or from the newly strong economic castes and classes-the upper reaches of the Other Backward Classes – whose monopoly had to be broken, so that lower-ranking members of the OBCs and Scheduled Castes and Tribes could ‘thrive’ as advocates and find their way to the bench".
Austin adds that Shiv Shankar believed that Chief Justices of high courts showed caste preferences in selecting colleagues and in deciding cases, and transfers might ameliorate this because outside judges would have no local roots.

Austin also records a personal element which motivated Shiv Shankar. "A [[self-made man]] from the Kapu community in Andhra Pradesh (a large community of agriculturists at the lower rungs of the OBCs), he thought the Reddy community dominated the high court there, and he had resigned from the high court when he thought a Reddy Judge had denied him the chief justiceship." Shiv Shankar was a Judge in Andhra Pradesh High Court between 1974–1975, before he plunged into politics.

In 1985, P. Shiv Shankar was elected to [[Rajya Sabha]] from Gujarat and remained in Rajya Sabha till 1993 for two terms.<ref name=RS-list-term>{{cite web|title=List of Former Members of Rajya Sabha (Term Wise)|url=http://164.100.47.5/Newmembers/mpterms.aspx|publisher=Rajya Sabha Secretariat|accessdate=4 October 2015|archive-date=26 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926061533/http://164.100.47.5/Newmembers/mpterms.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs]] and [[Minister of Human Resource Development (India)|Minister of Human Resource Development]] during these terms. He was deputy chairman of [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission]] from 1987 to 1988. Then, P. Shiv Shankar became Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha from 1988 to 1989. After that, he served as [[Leader of the Opposition (India)|Leader of the Opposition]] in Rajya Sabha during 1989 and 1991.<ref name=bio />

P. Shiv Shankar was sworn in as [[Governor of Sikkim]] on 21 September 1994. He remained in the post till 11 November 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.rajbhavansikkim.gov.in/formerGovernors.aspx|title= Former Governors of Sikkim on Governor of Sikkim website|author= [[Government of India]]|date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate= 6 April 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130329183529/http://www.rajbhavansikkim.gov.in/formerGovernors.aspx|archive-date= 29 March 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref> He also was [[Governor of Kerala]] from 1995 to 1996.<ref name=bio />

In [[1998 Indian general election|1998 General elections]], P. Shiv Shankar contested election from [[Tenali (Lok Sabha constituency)|Tenali constituency]], he defeated incumbent M.P. [[Sharada (actress)|Sarada Tadiparthi]] of [[Telugu Desam Party]] and was elected to Lok Sabha.<ref name=bio />

In 2004, P. Shiv Shankar left the Congress party because he had alleged that party tickets in [[Andhra Pradesh]] were being sold. There was no response to either his resignation or the allegations made by him. In 2008, he joined [[Praja Rajyam Party]] formed by Telugu film actor [[Chiranjeevi]]. In August 2011, Praja Rajyam Party merged with Congress.<ref>{{URL|http://www.prajarajyamonline.com/2008/November/15/minister-shiva-shankar.htm}} {{deadlink|date=June 2020}}</ref> He died on 27 February 2017, aged 87.{{fact|date=July 2020}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|in-lwr}}
{{s-bef|before=M M Hashim}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for [[Secunderabad (Lok Sabha constituency)|Secunderabad]] |years=1979 – 1984}}
{{s-aft|after=T. Anjaiah}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Sharada (actress)|Sarada Tadiparthi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for [[Tenali (Lok Sabha constituency)|Tenali]] |years=1998 – 1999}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ummareddy Venkateswarlu]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bali Ram Bhagat]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Law and Justice (India)|Minister of Law and Justice]]|years=1980 - 1982}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jagannath Kaushal]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Hans Raj Khanna]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Indian Foreign Minister|Minister for External Affairs]]|years=1986 - 1986}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Narayan Dutt Tiwari]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of governors of Sikkim|Governor of Sikkim]]|years=21 September 1994 – 11 November 1995}}
{{s-aft|after=[[K. V. Raghunatha Reddy]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[B. Rachaiah]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of governors of Kerala|Governor of Kerala]]|years=12 November 1995 – 1 May 1996}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Khurshed Alam Khan]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Governors of Sikkim}}
{{Energy Ministries and Departments of India}}
{{Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiv Shankar, P.}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:Governors of Kerala]]
[[Category:Politicians from Secunderabad]]
[[Category:Governors of Sikkim]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat|Shiv Shankar P]]
[[Category:7th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:12th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:Praja Rajyam Party politicians]]
[[Category:Law Ministers of India]]
[[Category:Ministers for External Affairs of India]]
[[Category:Education Ministers of India]]
[[Category:Ministers of Power of India]]
[[Category:Commerce and Industry Ministers of India]]
[[Category:Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministers of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of India]]

P. Shiv Shankar - Revision history

->Tharun S Yadla: Added Template