Shanti Bhushan is a former Law Minister of India at Ministry of Law and Justice (1977–1979) in the Morarji Desai Ministry and also a senior advocate. 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.

Mr. Bhushan was an active member of Congress (O) party and later the Janata Party. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 14 July 1977 to 2 April 1980 and the Union Law minister in the Morarji Desai ministry from 1977 to 1979. He joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in 1980. In 1986, he resigned from BJP after the party acted against his advice over an election petition.Mr. Shanti Bhushan then as the Law Minister had introduced Lokpal bill in 1977, but it could never see the light of the day, because of the collapse of the government.Prominent cases and clientsBhushan represented Raj Narain in a case against Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha judged Indira Gandhi guilty and declared her election to the Lok Sabha void. The decision resulted in wide spread political protests and ultimately resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency in India.In 1994, he appeared for two of the defendants accused of participating in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts caseIn 2002, he appeared as a counsel for Arundhati Roy in a contempt case against her in the Supreme Court of IndiaBhushan represented Shaukat Hussain Guru in 2008 for an appeal against his 10 year conviction for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
 

Bhushan appeared as senior counsel for Transparency International in the Provident Fund scandal case of Ghaziabad, which allegedly involved several judges of the Indian judiciary. The bench abandoned the hearing after deeming his remarks as contemptuous and termed his behavior as that of a street urchin.
 

​Shanti Bhushan was the counsel for the former Prime Minister of India H. D. Deve Gowda in a petition related to allocation of land for Bangalore - Mysore Infrastructure Corridor.He has represented Rajendra Singh Lodha regarding the assets of Birla Corporation He represented V.S.Achuthanandan in the Supreme Court in the Idamalayar Dam corruption case against UDF leader R.Balakrishna Pillai and others. The bench awarded rigorous imprisonment for one year with fine of Rs. 10,000/- each to the accused persons.
 

ActivismShanti Bhushan, along with his son Prashant Bhushan has been involved in accountability of the Indian Judiciary by setting up Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reform (CJAR).[ The campaign has been responsible for action against the judicial misconduct of Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal  and for the declaration of assets by the judges.The campaign had also protested against the actions and appointments of Justice S. Ashok Kumar, Madan Mohan Punchhi, Soumitra Sen and Ashwini Kumar Mata.