DNA Edit: Exit the maverick

When legendary lawyer Ram Boolchand Jethmalani decided to hang up his boots after 76 years of service, it was a loss not only to the legal fraternity, but also to the Judiciary. He was a well-meaning maverick who considered it par for the course to defend criminals, even if that meant courting controversies and attracting public backlash. In the true spirit of the law, an accused has the right to seek legal counsel, and Jethmalani stood up for the indefensible — sometimes for an astronomical fee. In a career spanning decades, he has also left his mark on constitutional matters. A towering personality, he was one of those very few dissenting voices who had opposed the National Judicial Appointment Commission, calling it the Executive’s design to curb the Judiciary’s powers.

Jethmalani was forthright, to the point of being blunt, which earned him both friends and enemies. His devil-may-care attitude was evident even when he served in the AB Vajpayee government as a Union minister when he locked horns with then-Chief Justice of India Adarsh Sein Anand and the Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee. Jethmalani was one of the first prominent voices to support PM Narendra Modi’s efforts to tackle black money. However, he seemed to have been disillusioned with the progress made on that front. Touted to be the highest-paid lawyer in India, he had time and again taken up causes of the poor and the ordinary people of this country. Even at the age of 94, the legal eagle is as compelling as ever.