PASSINGS / Ramaswamy Venkataraman

Ramaswamy Venkataraman, 98, who was India’s eighth president and helped draft the country’s constitution, died Tuesday in New Delhi, after being admitted Jan. 12 to the Army Hospital, according to the state-run broadcaster Doordarshan. Venkataraman was admitted to the hospital with delirium and dehydration, and his condition progressively deteriorated, a government statement said.

Venkataraman served as president from 1987 to 1992 and before that was vice president. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly that wrote India’s constitution, which was adopted in 1950, three years after India gained independence from Britain. He was also a member of the country’s first Parliament and later served as defense and finance minister.

Venkataraman was born Dec. 4, 1910, in Rajamadam, a village in the southern state of Tamilnadu. He studied law and economics and began a legal practice. He was jailed for three years in the 1940s after taking part in demonstrations against British rule.