A politician, lawyer of great stature Ram Jathmalani died
KS Diwan/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Ram Boolchand Jethmalani properly known Ram Jethmalani a veteran lawyer and former Union Minister, a chairman of the Bar Council of India died this morning at his home in Delhi. He was 95.
Born on 14 September 1923, born in Shikarpur, Sindh in the Sindh division of the then Bombay Presidency, now part of Pakistan in the family of Boolchand Gurmukhdas Jethmalani and Parbati Boolchand.
Jethmalani obtained LL.B.degree at the age of 17 , at that time, the minimum age for becoming a lawyer was 21, and started practising law in his hometown (in today’s Pakistan) until the partition of India.
He married Durga Jethmalani and later, his second wife, Ratna Jethmalani. The partition led him to move to Mumbai as a refugee and he began his life afresh with his family. 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.
Jethmalani, a six-time Rajya Sabha member, served as a Union minister in the United Front and NDA governments. He has served as Law Minister of India and also as Minister of Urban Development during the prime ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee against whom he later contested election in the general elections of 2004 from Lucknow constituency. However, in 2010 he came back to BJP and was elected to Rajya Sabha on its ticket from Rajasthan .He joined the BJP-led NDA ministry in 1998 and then again in October 1999. However, he quit the Vajpayee government in July 2000.
The noted lawyer was involved in defending several high-profile cases of corruption and scams involving several top politicians, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal among others.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid his tribute to the veteran lawyer on Twitter.
“Extremely saddened at the passing away of legendary lawyer Ram Jethmalani ji. An institution in himself, he shaped criminal law in post-independence India. His void would never be filled and his name will be written in golden words in legal history. RIP Ram sir,” he wrote.
