Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
for Patna Sahib
Assumed office
23 May 2019
Preceded byShatrughan Sinha
Ministerial portfolios
(during NDA government)
Minister of Communications
Minister of Communications and Information Technology (20142016)
In office
31 May 2019 7 July 2021
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byManoj Sinha
Succeeded byAshwini Vaishnaw
In office
27 May 2014 5 July 2016
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byKapil Sibal
Succeeded byManoj Sinha
Minister of Electronics and Information Technology
In office
5 July 2016 7 July 2021
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAshwini Vaishnaw
Minister of Law and Justice
In office
5 July 2016 7 July 2021
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byD. V. Sadananda Gowda
Succeeded byKiren Rijiju
In office
27 July 2014 26 November 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byKapil Sibal
Succeeded byD. V. Sadananda Gowda
Minister of State (Independent Charge)
for Information and Broadcasting
In office
29 January 2003 22 May 2004
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded bySushma Swaraj (as minister)
Succeeded byS. Jaipal Reddy (as minister)
Union Minister of State
Government of India
20022003Law and Justice
20012002Coal
Mines
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
for Bihar
In office
3 April 2000 30 May 2019
Personal details
Born (1954-08-30) 30 August 1954
Patna, Bihar, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
SpouseMaya Shankar
Children2
Alma materPatna University (BA, MA, LLB)
ProfessionLawyer
  1. as Minister of State (Independent Charge)
  2. Previously part of the department in the Communications ministry until July 2016 split into two ministries.
As of 26 June 2024
Source:

Ravi Shankar Prasad (born 30 August 1954) is an Indian politician and lawyer, from the Bharatiya Janata Party. A Member of Parliament since 2000, first in the Rajya Sabha (2000–2019) and then in the Lok Sabha (since 2019), Prasad has served as Union Minister multiple times: As Minister of State, he served in the ministries of Coal (2001–2003), Law and Justice (2002–2003), and Information and Broadcasting (2003–2004) under Atal Bihari Vajpayee's premiership; as Cabinet Minister, he held the Law and Justice (2014, 2016–2021), Communications (2014–2016, 2019–2021), and Electronics and Information Technology (2014–2021) portfolios under Narendra Modi's premiership.

His term as Union Minister was marked with the repeal of 1500 archaic laws, handling of litigation over the purchase of Rafale fighter planes, and digitization of 15000 trial courts. On the other hand, his tenure also saw controversy over the proposed National Judicial Appointments Commission, constant friction between the judiciary and the executive, and rows with social media platforms Twitter and Facebook over local rules.