Ram Jethmalani
Ram Jethmalani started his career as a lawyer and professor in Sindh before Partition.In his more than seven-decade-long career as a lawyer, Ram Jethmalani has never had any objection to who he is representing in court.
In the hawala case, ranging from politicians of LK Advani’s stature to smugglers Haji Mastan, assassins of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and later his son Rajiv to Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case, eminent lawyers have defended people from different walks of life. They sparked controversies inside and outside the court of law.
95-year-old Jethmalani died at his residence on Sunday morning. He was ill for some time. Along with being a highly successful lawyer, he was also a politician who was elected to the Lok Sabha twice on a BJP ticket from Mumbai. He served as the Law Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and later also handled the Urban Development Department. Since 2016, he was a Rajya Sabha member from the RJD.
One of the highest-paid criminal lawyers in the country, Jethmalani began his legal career at the young age of 18. He got his first chance of fame in 1959, when he was part of the team of lawyers involved in the famous Naval Commander KM Nanavati case. . Jethmalani had assisted YV Chandrachud as the prosecution counsel in the case.