Swantantra Party leader Rustom Cooper dead

Rustom C Cooper, General Secretary of the defunct Swatantra Party, whose case for compensation to shareholders of banks at the time of nationalisation in 1969 was upheld by the Supreme Court, died here recently at the age of 90.
Cooper, a chartered accountant by profession, was General Secretary between 1969 and 1973 of the Swatantra Party founded by the late C Rajagopalachari, 'Rajaji', in 1959 to counter the socialist policies of the Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress party.
The Swatantra Party, which was the main Opposition in Lok Sabha during 1967-71, promoted free enterprise and deregulation of the economy.
Born in a Parsi business family of Mumbai in 1922, Cooper was a non-executive Chairman of the Times of India group and of the Indian Red Cross Society. He leaves wife and two daughters.