Former Union law minister and jurist Shanti Bhushan died on Tuesday following a brief illness, PTI reported. He was 97 years old.

Bhushan, who had not been keeping well for some time, died at his home in Delhi, the news agency quoted a person close to his family as saying.

Bhushan had represented freedom fighter and politician Raj Narain in a landmark Allahabad High Court case, in which former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was disqualified from contesting elections for six years. The decision had led to a political crisis and triggered the imposition of the Emergency on June 25, 1975.

Bhushan was later the Union law minister in the Morarji Desai-led government from 1977 to 1979. He became a founding member of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980, but left the party in 1986.

He was also a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012 but quit in 2015.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the former Union minister “will be remembered for his contribution to the legal field and passion towards speaking for the underprivileged”.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said that Bhushan “made notable contributions to jurisprudence and public affairs” and that his death is a huge loss for India’s legal fraternity.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also said that they were pained to hear about Bhushan’s death and offered their condolences to his family.