Subramanian Swamy


Subramanian Swamy is an Indian politician, economist and statistician who serves as a nominated Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu nationalist views. Swamy was a member of the Planning Commission of India and was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. Between 1994 and 1996, Swamy was Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade under former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. Swamy was a long-time member of the Janata Party, serving as its president until 2013 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He has written on foreign affairs of India dealing largely with China, Pakistan and Israel. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha on 26 April 2016.

Early life and career

Subramanian Swamy was born on September 15, 1939, in Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, to a family which hailed originally from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His father, Sitarama Subramanian, was a bureaucrat and his mother, Padmavathi, was a homemaker. He has one younger brother, Ram Subramanian, as well as two younger sisters.
Sitarama Subramanian was an officer in the Indian Statistical Service who served as the director of the Central Statistical Institute in Delhi, and was a statistical adviser to the Government of India. The family, which hailed from Madurai in Tamil Nadu, moved to New Delhi when Swamy was only six months old. Due to his father's job and the family's Tamil roots, major national leaders like K. Kamaraj, C. Rajagopalachari and S. Satyamurti often visited Sitarama.

Education

Swamy attended Hindu College, University of Delhi, from where he earned his bachelor's degree in Mathematics. He then took his master's degree in Statistics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. He was later recommended by Hendrik S. Houthakker and went to study at Harvard University on a full Rockefeller scholarship, where he received his PhD in Economics in 1965, with his thesis titled Economic Growth and Income Distribution in a Developing Nation. His thesis adviser was Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets. While he was a doctoral student at Harvard, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a cross-registered student and later worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City as an Assistant Economics Affairs Officer in 1963. He subsequently worked as a resident tutor at Lowell House at Harvard University.

Family and personal life

Swamy met Roxna Kapadia, whose father was member of Indian Civil Service and an Indian lady of Parsi ethnicity who was studying PhD in mathematics at Harvard University. They were married in June 1966. Swamys have two daughters. The elder daughter, Gitanjali Swamy, is an entrepreneur and private equity professional. She is married to Sanjay Sarma, a professor at MIT, who is the son of E.A.S Sarma, a retired IAS officer and former secretary Economic Affairs to the government of India. The younger daughter, Suhasini Haidar, is a print and television journalist married to Nadeem Haidar, the son of former Indian Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar.

Academic career

In July 1965, immediately after obtaining his PhD in economics from Harvard, Swamy joined the Department of Economics at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences as an assistant professor. In 1969, he was made an associate professor. As an associate professor, he was invited by Amartya Sen to occupy the chair on Chinese studies at the Delhi School of Economics. He accepted the offer and even travelled to India to take up the position, but his appointment was cancelled at the last minute due to his views on India's economic policy and also its nuclear policy. At that time, India was still partially oriented towards socialism and the "command economy" model instituted by Nehru, and Swamy was a believer in market economy.
Thereafter, Swamy moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi where he was a full Professor of Mathematical Economics there from 1969 to the early 1970s. He was removed from the position by its board of governors in the early 1970s but was legally reinstated in the late 1990s by the Supreme Court of India. He continued in the position until 1991 when he resigned to become a cabinet minister. He served on the Board of Governors of the IIT, Delhi and on the Council of IITs. He also taught economics courses at Harvard Summer School until 2011, when the Harvard faculty voted to eliminate Swamy's courses as a result of his "offensive" statements about Muslims.
Swamy currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the SCMS Group of Institutions, which includes the SCMS Cochin School of Business in Kochi.

Political career

Early politics

Swamy's career started with his involvement in the Sarvodaya movement, which was an apolitical movement but which formed the foundation of the creation of Janata Party later. The real turn in his political career came after his sacking from IIT. Liberal economic policies put forward by him did not go well with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who sneered at his plans as 'Santa Claus with unrealistic ideas'. He was later expelled from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. This marked the beginning of his active political career. Staunch opponent of Indira Gandhi Bharatiya Jana Sangh sent him to Rajya Sabha – the upper house of Indian Parliament.
He was an elected Member of Parliament five times between 1974 and 1999. As a Lok Sabha candidate, he has represented the city of Mumbai North East twice and the city of Madurai. As a Rajya Sabha candidate, he has represented Uttar Pradesh in the Parliament.
During the period of the Emergency, he fled to the United States, seeking haven with an Indian businessman in Michigan who had become the spokesperson of the opposition in the United States. In 1976, when the Emergency was still in force and an arrest warrant had been issued in his name, Swamy came to Parliament to attend the session and managed to escape India after the session was adjourned. This act of defiance was well received in the eyes of opposition parties.
Swamy was a long-time member of the right-wing Janata Party party until 2013 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Electoral history

1974–76 - Member of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, elected on a Jan Sangh party ticket

1977–80 - Member of Lok Sabha from Mumbai North-East, elected on a Janata Party ticket

1980–84 - Member of Lok Sabha from Mumbai North-East, elected on a Janata Party ticket

1988–94 - Member of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, elected on a Janata Party ticket

1998–99 - Member of Lok Sabha from Madurai, elected on a Janata Party ticket

2016 - Member of Rajya Sabha, Nominated Category

Minister of Commerce and Law of India

During 1990 and 1991, Swamy served as a member of the Planning Commission of India and as Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Law. In the Narasimha Rao government, Swamy was Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade, which was a Cabinet-rank post. In his book, Swamy asserts that Manmohan Singh acknowledges his role as well.

Later years

Between 1994 and 1996, Swamy was chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. He continued to be president of the Janata Party till 2013. On 11 August 2013, Swamy officially joined the BJP when its president was Rajnath Singh. His admission to the party would mark the merger of the Janata Party with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Court petitions

Petition to strike down anti-defamation laws

In Oct 2014, Swamy filed a petition in Supreme Court praying for declaring Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code that deal with criminal defamation as unconstitutional.

Complaint against Jayalalithaa

In 1996, Swamy had filed a criminal complaint against Jayalalithaa which led to her prosecution, conviction and sentencing to four years imprisonment by the trial court in 2014. Later, on May 11, 2015, a special Bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside the trial court order convicting former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha, who was acquitted of all charges in the disproportionate assets case. An Appeal against the High court verdict was filed in Supreme Court. However, keeping personal differences aside, he wished her a speedy recovery on her recent illness and advised she visit Singapore for treatment. The final verdict of Supreme Court came in February, 2017 that indicted Jayalalitha posthumously and upheld the trial court judgement.

Phone tapping allegation

Swamy released a letter alleging that former intelligence chief had asked DoT to tap the phone of many politicians and businessmen in Karnataka when Ramakrishna Hegde, the then Chief Minister, resigned in 1988. Hegde then filed a case against him in 1989 and 1990.

Hashimpura massacre

In 1987, when Muslim youths were killed under police custody, Swamy spoke against it and sat on a fast for more than a week in Jantar Mantar demanding the institution of an inquiry. After 25 years he started pursuing the case once again in court.
Rebecca John, a counsel for the Hashimpura complainants, told Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Siddhartha who is conducting the trial in the case, that "there is no other motive than politics behind Swamy's plea for further investigation and it would only further delay the trial".

Role in exposing 2G spectrum case

In November 2008, Swamy amongst others wrote the first of five letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking permission to prosecute A. Raja in regard to 2G spectrum case. After not receiving any response, Swamy decided to file a case on his own in the Supreme Court of India regarding the matter, which then asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to produce a detailed report on it. He further called on the Indian government to re-auction the 2G spectrum without the involvement of Communications Minister Kapil Sibal.
On 15 April 2011, he filed a 206-page petition with PM Singh seeking permission to prosecute Sonia Gandhi on charges of corruption. He also raised doubts regarding her acquisition of Indian citizenship. Swamy filed documents in the court to prosecute Minister of Home Affairs P. Chidambaram by including a 15 January 2008 letter written by Chidambaram to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Swamy also placed on record the certified copy of the minutes of a meeting between Chidambaram, Raja and the prime minister during the tenure of Raja as the MOC&IT. Since criminal charges were filed against the accused, but no evidence was given by Swamy or the CBI, all the respondents have got bail as of July 2012.

Sanction to prosecute telecom minister A. Raja

On 31 January 2012, the Supreme Court of India accepted Swamy's petition against the Prime Minister's Office in the 2G case, saying that all public authorities should give a sanction within three months against any public official if a request is made for prosecution.
The Supreme Court said that Swamy had the locus standi to seek sanction from the Prime Minister for the prosecution of A Raja in the 2G case. Sanction by a competent authority for the prosecution of a public servant has to be granted within a time frame, the apex court said. Justice AK Ganguly said that the sanction would be deemed to be granted if competent authority failed to take a decision within four months.
Swamy's arguments were that he wrote to the PMO on 29 November 2008, but it was only on 19 March 2010 the PMO replied that the plea made by Swamy was "premature" as investigation was being carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Raja was arrested by the CBI in the case and got bail on 15 May 2012 after spending nearly 15 months in the Tihar Central Jail.
On December 21, 2017, the special CBI Court Judge acquitted the accused including Andimuthu Raja.

Petition to strike down "single directive provision"

In 1997, Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India to strike down a provision which barred CBI from investigating corruption charges against officers of the rank of joint secretary and above without prior permission of the Government of India called as "Dr. Subramanian Swamy Versus Director, Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr." On 6 May 2014, a five-judge constitution bench held the single directive provision as invalid and unconstitutional. The court said that "Protection of prior approval for probing graft charges against officers at level of joint secretary and above has propensity of shielding corruption." Incumbent CBI Director Ranjit Sinha welcomed the judgement and said, "now a very heavy responsibility has been cast upon us to ensure that no innocent civil-servant is harassed."

Investigation on EVM

Swamy demanded that an independent committee should be formed to check the security and safety of the Electronic Voting Machines to avoid any rigging or tampering. He demanded that a printed receipt should be given to every voter after casting the vote. His PIL to investigate the working of EVM was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on 17 January 2012. The court refused to give any direction to the Election Commission to bring back paper-ballot system or use of printed receipts. The Commission argued that the use of paper is not feasible due to the huge size of Indian electorate. The court further asked the Election Commission to "immediately begin a process of wider consultations" and the Parliament "to go into this question in depth and decide".
On 22 January 2013 the Election Commission informed the Supreme Court that it would include Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system which is in the testing phase after the court agreed with some points raised by Swamy who was the contender, in the machines so that every voter will come to know who he/she is voting by getting a printed slip after pressing the EVM button. The voter paper audit trail has then been in use from 4 September 2013.
On 8 October 2013 the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to implement audit trail system in 2014 general election in phases.

National Herald case

On 1 November 2012 Swamy alleged that both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have committed fraud and land grabbing to a tune of by acquiring a public ltd company called Associated Journals Private Ltd through their owned private company, Young Indian which was formed on 23 November 2010. Through this they had got publication rights of National Herald and Qaumi Awaz newspapers, with real estate properties in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The acquired place was intended only for newspaper purposes but were used for running a passport office, amounting to crores of rupees, it alleges. Swamy further added that Rahul Gandhi hid the facts in his affidavit while filing nomination for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
It further alleges that on 26 February 2011 AJPL approved the transfer of unsecured loan of from the All India Congress Committee at zero interest. Swamy argued that it is illegal for any political party to lend the loan as per violation of Section 269T of Income Tax Act 1961. On 2 November, the party responded that the loan was given only for reviving National Herald newspaper with no commercial interest. Swamy decided to approach the Supreme Court for de-recognising the Congress party, while the Election Commission ordered the probe on 17 November 2012.
The hearing of the case had been taken up thereafter on different occasions with the court observing prima facie evidence against all the accused. On 1 August 2014 the Enforcement Directorate initiated probe to find any money laundering in the case while on the same day Swamy was served notice by the High Court. On 28 August the metropolitan court fixed 9 December for the next hearing of the case, while on 12 January 2015 the judge of the Delhi High Court recused himself from hearing the case stating that schedule of cases has been changed and directed that the petitions be directed before an appropriate bench. On 27 January 2015, the Supreme Court asked Swamy to make out a case for the speedy trial in the Delhi High Court since the petition cannot be heard directly.
On 18 September 2015 it was reported that the Enforcement Directorate had reopened the investigation. Following it, on 19 December 2015 Patiala House Court granted unconditional bail immediately on the hearing to all the five accused but one. On 12 July 2016 the Delhi High Court set aside the trial court order of 11 January and 11 March based on plea by Swamy to examine balance sheets of Congress party, AJL and Young Indian from 2010-2013, and fixed the date of next hearing on 20 August.
Currently, the case proceedings are on-going in Delhi High Court.

Temple cases

Nataraja temple case

Swamy had filed a petition in the Supreme Court with priests of the dikshithar sect challenging the decision of the Madras High Court on transferring the administration of the Nataraja temple to the then Tamil Nadu government in 2009.
Swamy on referring to the provisions of Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, contended that Podu Dikshitars have right to administer the temple and argued on handing over the administration on mismanagement grounds of temple's wealth is violation under article
26 of the Constitution of India. On 6 January 2014 the Supreme Court ruled that the administration is to be handed over back to the priests of the temple from the state government.

State control of Hindu temples

Subramanian Swamy filed a petition to remove Kerala State government's control over Hindu temples by abolishing Devaswom. In 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to examine the petition moved by him and TG Mohan Das to abolish Devaswom Board. The Supreme Court issued notice to the Kerala government and Devaswom Board of Travanacore and Cochin and sought their response in six weeks. In 2019, the Kerala government opposed Subramanian Swamy's plea.

Ayodhya temple case

On 22 February 2016, Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court allowing construction of Rama temple at the disputed site where Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, and expediting the adjudication related to order of the Allahabad High Court on 30 September 2010, petition was accepted on 26 February to be later heard by the court.

Campaign against black money

Swamy founded the Action Committee Against Corruption in India on 14 October 2011 and acted as a chairperson. ACACI's goal is to take action against corruption in government and against Indian black money stashed abroad.

Views

Foreign policy

Bangladesh

Swamy has called for India annexing parts of Bangladesh.

China

Swamy has worked towards normalising relations between China and India. According to Swamy, the re-opening of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route was announced at a meeting convened by the People's Republic of China paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in April 1981, in which Swamy was in attendance. This meeting was widely reported in the media, although such claims have been contested by supporters of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Israel

In various speeches and articles, Swamy has expressed his admiration for, and solidarity with, the State of Israel and has credited its retaliatory capacity for its ability to survive as a nation in a hostile Arab environment. Swamy made pioneering efforts towards India's establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel. In 1982, Swamy became the first Indian political leader to make a well-publicised trip to Israel, where he met with several important Israeli leaders such as Yitzhak Rabin and then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin. His efforts at normalising relations with Israel have borne fruit with both India as well as Israels decision, in 1992, to facilitate the building of embassies in their respective countries.

Sri Lanka and LTTE

Swamy, on several occasions, has voiced support for the state of Sri Lanka in its role during Sri Lanka's protracted civil war with the LTTE, for which he was criticised as "pro Lanka" by his political opponents domestically. In an interview given to The Sunday Leader newspaper, Swamy stated that the Indian government should attend the CHOGM meeting held in Colombo despite stiff opposition from Indian politicians in Tamil Nadu concerned for the welfare and human rights of Tamils in Sri Lanka, placing the onus on the LTTE for human rights violations during the Sri Lankan civil war, he had favoured Mahinda Rajapaksa also during Sri Lanka 2015 election.

United States

Swamy is a strong supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, endorsing Trump's presidential candidacy in 2016 and comparing Trump to himself.
After the Charlottesville riots in August 2017, he posted a tweet urging Indians residing in the United States to "stand with Trump at this hour of his being hunted by cockeyed liberals & Left wing loonies on racism" and praised Trump for "having showed the hypocrites their place by telling it like it is."
Following criticism of Pakistan by Trump, Swamy called for closer relations between India and the United States.

Domestic policy

LGBT rights

In 2018, when the Indian Supreme Court decriminalized gay sexual acts, Swamy criticized the ruling, saying "It could give rise to an increase in the number of HIV cases."

Kashmir

In September 2008, Swamy stridently retorted against the contentions of some Indian columnists who voiced their opinions in favor of "peacefully" surrendering Kashmir to Pakistan. He said,

Tamil Nadu politics

Swamy is well known for his critical views against the "Aryan versus Dravidian" politics of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, calling it as the theory forwarded by the British. He has been a staunch opponent of the armed rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
He also urged the Indian government not to support the US led resolution condemning war crimes in the Sri Lankan Civil War, citing it as one-sided and not in the interest of India. Swamy moved the court and got the order restoring quota for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in colleges in the state.
Swamy obtained Supreme Court Stay against the implementation of Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project. He believes that it would hurt the sentiments of people who believe that this shallow land connecting between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka was built by Lord Rama. He strongly opposes the implementation of SSCP citing that implementing this scheme will be a criminal offence under section 295 Indian Penal Code. He wrote letters to Prime Minister of India in June 2009 asking him to stop the project and had informed the Supreme Court on 14 October 2015 that the government may not continue with the Sethusamudram Project.

Hindu nationalism

Swamy has made several statements in the past that reflect on his Hindu nationalist position. He has called for the creation of an "enlightened secular democracy which redresses all historical wrongs done to Hindus." He has claimed that India is the world's most ancient civilization that consists of "an organic cultural core which is Hindu in character." He has also claimed that the Hindu foundation of India is what makes India distinctive in the world.

Muslims

After the 2011 Mumbai bombings, he wrote an controversial editorial wherein, as a response to Islamic terrorism, he called for the removal of 300 mosques built at sites of Hindu temples. and for the disenfranchisement of Muslims unless they "acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus". After the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard voted to have his classes removed for "demonising" Muslims, his regular Harvard summer teaching sessions were cancelled because of this article.
In 2020, in an interview, Swamy argued that Muslims in India were "not in an equal category" to non-Muslims in terms of protection before the law and the Indian constitution. He added, "where the Muslim population is large, there is always trouble."

Honours and awards

Books, research papers and journals

Swamy is the author of several books, research papers and journals. A complete list of papers, books and journals authored by him is given below. He has also co-authored with Paul Samuelson, a paper on the Theory of Index Numbers and another in the Royal Economic Society’s Economic Journal.

Books