Ram Jethmalani, eminent lawyer and former Union law minister, Passes away

March 8, 2020

New Delhi: Senior Advocate Ram Boolchand Jethmalani, India’s most famous defence lawyer, passed away on Sunday morning. He was 95.

Born on September 14, 1923, Jethmalani is an eminent lawyer and politician. He practised law for over seven decades.

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The maverick lawyer — he defended the killers of India’s former PM Indira Gandhi and well-known smugglers — had served as India’s Union Law Minister and as chairman of the Bar Council of India.

He practised law in Karachi until the partition of India in 1947.

Choosing to study law and pursue it despite his father’s opposition, Jethmalani obtained his LL.B. degree at the age of 17. The partition led Jethmalani to move to Mumbai as a refugee and he began his life afresh with his family.

He represented high-profile cases for which he has often faced severe criticism. He was the highest-paid lawyer in the supreme court of India.

In a rivetting K.M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra case (1959) Jethmalani defended Nanavati, an Indian Navy commander, who was tried for the murder of his wife’s lover. Nanavati, who was jailed for three years, was acquitted by grand jury.

He married Durga Jethmalani and later, his second wife, Ratna Jethmalani. He has two sons and two daughters, of whom, Mahesh Jethmalani and Rani Jethmalani are also well-known lawyers. He announced his retirement from judicial profession on 10 September 2017. Parvati came to his life at the age of 90.

He was elected a member of parliament in the 6th and 7th Lok Sabha on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket from Mumbai.