Former Union minister Ram Jethmalani, who courted several controversies in his career and was known for his sharp remarks, passed away at the age of 95. He had been ailing for some time and was kept under round the clock medical supervision for the last two weeks.
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Jethmalani was a Rajya Sabha member from RJD. He served as law and urban development minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government but even during his days in the BJP he would never hold back on criticising his own party. Later, in 2004 he contested against Vajpayee from Lucknow in the Lok Sabha election. He had represented the BJP in the Lower House from Mumbai twice.
Never one to shy away from a verbal duel, Jethmalani would make news for becoming a defence attorney for those who were in the dock for grave crimes. He fought the cases of the assassins of Indira Gandhi and later her son Rajiv. He was also defended stock market scam accused Harshad Mehta and Ketan Mehta.
In recent times, he fought the case of Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru and Manu Sharma, who was facing the charge of shooting dead Jessica Lal for not making him a drink.
Jethmalani was acerbic in his political life as well. He took on Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi during the Bofors gun deal controversy, posing a series of questions to him through the press on a daily basis. When Gandhi was asked about the questions, he said he would not pay attention to every barking dog. Jethmalani shot back, saying a dog barks only at a thief.
About Shri Ram Jethmalani:
Ram Jethmalani was born in Sikhapur of Sindh province on 14 September 1923. He finished his schooling at the age of 13 and secured an LLB degree at the age of 17. At the age of 18, he became a lawyer.
Ram Jethmalani fought several high-profile cases, including Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh in the Securities scam of 1992, the defence of Rajiv Gandhi’s killer in Madras High Cout in 2001, Jessica Lall murder case, in the Supreme Court (SC), high courts and trial courts. One of the cases he will be remembered for is the KM Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra case in which he was the prosecutor.
Jethmalani was elected as the president of Supreme Court Bar Association in 2010. He was elected as a BJP MP in the 6th and 7th Lok Sabha. He served as Union law minister and urban development minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.
