Shanti Bhushan was an Indian politician and lawyer. He served as the Law Minister of India holding office at the Ministry of Law and Justice from 1977 to 1979 in the Morarji Desai Ministry. He was a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He, along with his son Prashant Bhushan, was featured at 74th position in a list of the most powerful Indians published by The Indian Express in 2009.

The premiership of Morarji Desai extended from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979. In the 1977 Indian general election Morarji Desai led the Janata Party to victory against the Congress party. Upon taking office, Morarji Desai became the first Indian Prime Minister not belonging to the Congress party.