# Romesh Bhandari

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Indian diplomat and administrator (1928–2013)

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Romesh Bhandari 13th Foreign Secretary of India In office 1 February 1985 – 31 March 1986 Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Minister Rajiv Gandhi Bali Ram Bhagat Preceded by M. K. Rasgotra Succeeded by A. P. Venkateswaran Eleventh Lieutenant Governor of Delhi In office 4 August 1988 – December 1989 Preceded by Harkishan Lal Kapoor Succeeded by Arjan Singh Third Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands In office December 1989 – 24 February 1990 Preceded by Tirath Singh Oberoi Succeeded by Ranjit Singh Dayal Seventh Governor of Tripura In office 15 August 1993 – 15 June 1995 Preceded by K. V. Raghunatha Reddy Succeeded by Prof. Siddheswar Prasad Sixth Governor of Goa In office 16 June 1995 – 18 July 1996 Preceded by Gopala Ramanujam Succeeded by P.C. Alexander 14th Governor of Uttar Pradesh In office 19 July 1996 – 17 March 1998 Preceded by Mohammad Shafi Qureshi Succeeded by Mohammad Shafi Qureshi Personal details Born (1928-03-29)29 March 1928 Lahore, Punjab, British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan) Died 7 September 2013(2013-09-07) (aged 85) New Delhi, India Spouse Kumudesh Bhandari Children 2 Parent(s) Amar Nath Bhandari (father) Padma Bhandari (mother) Profession Diplomat Administrator

**Romesh Bhandari** (29 March 1928 – 7 September 2013) was an Indian diplomat and administrator. Bhandari, during his career, served in various positions, including as the [Foreign Secretary](/source/Foreign_Secretary_(India)), [Lieutenant Governor](/source/Governor_(India)) of [Delhi](/source/List_of_lieutenant_governors_of_Delhi) and the [Andaman and Nicobar Islands](/source/List_of_lieutenant_governors_of_the_Andaman_and_Nicobar_Islands), and [Governor](/source/Governor_(India)) of [Tripura](/source/List_of_governors_of_Tripura), [Goa](/source/List_of_governors_of_Goa) and [Uttar Pradesh](/source/List_of_governors_of_Uttar_Pradesh).[1]

## Early life

Romesh Bhandari was born in [Lahore](/source/Lahore), [Punjab Province](/source/Punjab_Province_(British_India)), [British India](/source/Presidencies_and_provinces_of_British_India) (present day [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan)) on 29 March 1928. He was the son of Amar Nath Bhandari, a [Punjab High Court](/source/Punjab_and_Haryana_High_Court) [Judge](/source/Judge) who was part of the [bench](/source/Division_bench) which decided the [Mahatma Gandhi](/source/Mahatma_Gandhi) [Assassination case](/source/Assassination_of_Mahatma_Gandhi).[2] Amar Nath later became the Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court.[1][3] His mother was Padma Bhandari and he had two siblings.[4]

## Career

He joined the [Indian Foreign Service](/source/Indian_Foreign_Service) (IFS) in 1950 as the Vice-Consul at the [consulate](/source/Consulate) in New York.[5] He was minister in the Indian Embassy at Moscow from 1970 to 1971. He was the Indian ambassador to [Thailand](/source/Thailand), Permanent Representative to [UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East](/source/United_Nations_Economic_and_Social_Commission_for_Asia_and_the_Pacific) from 1971 to 1974 and the Indian ambassador to [Iraq](/source/Iraq) from 1974 to 1976.[6] He then returned to the [Ministry of External Affairs](/source/Ministry_of_External_Affairs_(India)) as Additional Secretary from February 1977 to July 1979. He was promoted as Secretary on 1 August 1979 and was appointed [Foreign Secretary](/source/Foreign_Secretary_(India)) on 1 February 1985.[6] He retired from service on 31 March 1986.[1] In 1984, Bhandari brought back to India the [extradited](/source/Extradition) hijackers of the [Indian Airlines Flight 421](/source/Indian_Airlines_Flight_421) from Dubai in 1984.[1][7]

He was the [Lieutenant Governor of Delhi](/source/List_of_lieutenant_governors_of_Delhi) from 4 August 1988 to December 1989 and of the [Andaman and Nicobar islands](/source/Andaman_and_Nicobar_Islands) from December 1989 to 24 February 1990.[8] He was the [Governor of Tripura](/source/List_of_governors_of_Tripura) from 15 August 1993 to 15 June 1995, [Governor of Goa](/source/List_of_governors_of_Goa) from 16 June 1995 to 18 July 1996 and [Governor of Uttar Pradesh](/source/List_of_governors_of_Uttar_Pradesh) from 19 July 1996 to 17 March 1998.[1][8][9][10][11] During his tenure as Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Bhandari's recommendation to dismiss the [Kalyan Singh](/source/Kalyan_Singh)-led [Bharatiya Janata Party](/source/Bharatiya_Janata_Party) (BJP) government in the state in 1997 led to a significant crisis for the central government, which ultimately had to reinstate the BJP's state government.[6]

## Personal life and family

Bhandari was married to Kumudesh Bhandari, daughter of [Maharaja](/source/Maharaja) [Bhupinder Singh](/source/Bhupinder_Singh_of_Patiala) of [Patiala](/source/Patiala_State).[1] He and Kumudesh had two children, one son and one daughter.[1] Through his wife, Kumudesh, Bhandari's brother-in-law was the businessman [Vipin Khanna](/source/Vipin_Khanna).[12] Bhandari died on the night of 7 September 2013 after a prolonged illness.[13]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-about_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-about_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-about_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-about_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-about_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-about_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-about_1-6) ["Shri Romesh Bhandari"](https://upgovernor.gov.in/en/post/shri-romesh-bhandari?brd=1). *Raj Bhavan, Uttar Pradesh*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201127112841/http://upgovernor.gov.in/en/post/shri-romesh-bhandari?brd=1) from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Mahapatra, Dhananjay (20 May 2019). ["How to exorcise the ghost of Nathuram Godse, which pops up every now and then?"](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-to-exorcise-the-ghost-of-nathuram-godse-which-pops-up-every-now-and-then/articleshow/69404592.cms). *The Times of India*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0971-8257](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0971-8257). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201107232736/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-to-exorcise-the-ghost-of-nathuram-godse-which-pops-up-every-now-and-then/articleshow/69404592.cms) from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Hon'ble Former Chief Justices"](https://highcourtchd.gov.in/?mod=former_cj). *High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241212081145/https://www.highcourtchd.gov.in/?mod=former_cj) from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Romesh Bhandari's mother passes away"](https://www.oneindia.com/2008/04/17/romesh-bhandaris-mother-passes-away-1208419401.html). *Oneindia*. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** PTI (8 September 2013). ["Former UP governor Romesh Bhandari dies"](https://www.livemint.com/Politics/DQGx4T4L1e6GyAYQMc5b6L/Former-UP-governor-Romesh-Bhandari-passes-away.html). *Mint*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240620061901/https://www.livemint.com/Politics/DQGx4T4L1e6GyAYQMc5b6L/Former-UP-governor-Romesh-Bhandari-passes-away.html) from the original on 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_6-2) ["Former UP guv Romesh Bhandari dead"](https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/former-up-guv-romesh-bhandari-dead/story-WECuM3clPGMuEoce5PRm3I.html). *Hindustan Times*. 9 September 2013. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230123105244/https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/former-up-guv-romesh-bhandari-dead/story-WECuM3clPGMuEoce5PRm3I.html) from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Magan, Srishti (18 September 2021). ["Everything To Know About The Real-Life Hijacking That Inspired Akshay Kumar's 'Bell Bottom'"](https://www.scoopwhoop.com/entertainment/everything-to-know-about-the-real-life-hijacking-that-inspired-akshay-kumar-s-bell-bottom/). *ScoopWhoop*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20231206005845/https://www.scoopwhoop.com/entertainment/everything-to-know-about-the-real-life-hijacking-that-inspired-akshay-kumar-s-bell-bottom/) from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-state_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-state_8-1) ["Indian states since 1947"](http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_states.html). *worldstatesmen.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080618002451/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_states.html) from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-goa_9-0)** ["Governors of Goa since Liberation"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120326193954/http://www.rajbhavangoa.org/pastgovernors_postliberation.htm). *rajbhavangoa.org*. Archived from [the original](http://www.rajbhavangoa.org/pastgovernors_postliberation.htm) on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-trip_10-0)** ["Tripura - Governors"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110709081847/http://tripura.nic.in/icm.htm). *tripura.nic.in*. Archived from [the original](http://tripura.nic.in/icm.htm) on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-up_11-0)** ["Governors of Uttar Pradesh"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110715193502/http://www.upgov.nic.in/upinfo/governers.html). *upgov.nic.in*. Archived from [the original](http://www.upgov.nic.in/upinfo/governers.html) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:38_12-0)** ["The Illustrated Weekly Of India Vol.108, No.26-49(july-dec)1987"](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.110088). *Internet Archive*. 1987. p. 92. Retrieved 20 June 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** PTI (29 March 1928). ["Former UP governor Romesh Bhandari passes away"](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Former-UP-governor-Romesh-Bhandari-passes-away/articleshow/22411828.cms). Times of India. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220324135446/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Former-UP-governor-Romesh-Bhandari-passes-away/articleshow/22411828.cms) from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2013.

Diplomatic posts Preceded by Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra Foreign Secretary of India 1985 - 1986 Succeeded by A. P. Venkateswaran

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States

v t e Governors of Tripura Braj Kumar Nehru Lallan Prasad Singh S. M. H. Burney K. V. Krishna Rao Sultan Singh K. V. Raghunatha Reddy Romesh Bhandari Siddheshwar Prasad Krishna Mohan Seth Dinesh Nandan Sahay Kamla Beniwal D. Y. Patil Devanand Konwar Vakkom Purushothaman# Padmanabha Acharya# Tathagata Roy Keshari Nath Tripathi$ Kaptan Singh Solanki Ramesh Bais Satyadev Narayan Arya N. Indrasena Reddy $ - acting, # - additional charge

v t e Governors of Uttar Pradesh Homi Mody Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi V. V. Giri Burgula Ramakrishna Rao Bishwanath Das Bezawada Gopala Reddy Shashi Kant Varma (acting) Akbar Ali Khan Marri Chenna Reddy Ganpatrao Devji Tapase Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh Mohammed Usman Arif B. Satya Narayan Reddy Motilal Vora Mohammad Shafi Qureshi Romesh Bhandari Suraj Bhan Vishnu Kant Shastri Sudarshan Agarwal (acting) T. V. Rajeswar Banwari Lal Joshi Aziz Qureshi (acting) Ram Naik § Served as governor of United Provinces of Independent India

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Romesh Bhandari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romesh_Bhandari) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romesh_Bhandari?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.