Amid the hoopla surrounding the tabling of the Nanavati commission report and the controversial Action Taken Report (ATR) of the government, a path-breaking piece of legislation was passed by Parliament almost unnoticed.
The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 was amended by the UPA government to give equal rights to women when it came to inheritance, something that can change the face of Indian industry, if not society, in the years to come.
The man credited with being the moving spirit behind the legislation, is Law Minister H R Bharadwaj, a Gandhi family loyalist and a dhoti-wearing Brahmin, hardly likely to be behind a law that was reminiscent of the pre-1857 social reform movements.
Bharadwaj, son of one of Jawahar Lal Nehru's secretaries, worked as a regular Tis Hazari court lawyer for years since the untimely death of his father, with a career suggesting none of the flair that characterised other lawyers who made it as politicians like Kapil Sibal, Somnath Chatterjee or Arun Jaitley.
What he had, though, was plain common sense and a deep sense of loyalty for the Gandhi clan, whom he legally represented in 1977, during their darkest hour. His reward has been the family's trust that has seen him get four Rajya Sabha and at least two terms as law minister.
Many perceive him as a typical lawyer, brought in for fire-fighting purposes like during the Jharkhand government-formation crisis, or when the defence ministry bungled in filing affidavits in the Tehelka case.
A man of the establishment, Bharadwaj has been quick to perceive that both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh wish to construct a legacy of social change in India.
The Right to Information Act and the Rural Employment Gurantee Bill along with the inheritance law, appear to be a troika of social engineering.
His gender sensitive streak appears more pronounced in recent times. Comments that parallel Islamic courts would not be allowed to play havoc with the lives of Muslim women, as in the case of Imrana have revealed a sensitive side to the canny lawyer.
He is reported to have told people after introducing the Bill in Parliament that equal inheritance rights could even bring an end to practices such as female infanticide. "This is a Bill which will have a long term effect in society," he is reported to have said.
When asked whether the change inheritance patterns would be acceptable to even fathers, let alone brothers in the family. He quoted a familiar cliché : "Fathers should realise, a son is a son till he gets a wife but a daughter is a daughter all her life."
