Eminent jurist and former Union minister Ram Jethmalani, who fought some of the most difficult criminal cases and defended the accused in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi assassination cases, passed away on September 8 at the age of 95.

Jethmalani, a doyen of legal profession, leaves behind a rich legacy of his seven-decade-long career when he was in action in scores of sensitive court battles and had earned the reputation of a maverick politician for his bold and sometimes controversial stands.

Jethmalani had a tumultuous political career. He reached Parliament from Janata Party, BJP, RJD, served under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and later contested against him, was expelled from BJP and sued the party for that, and at the age of 64, in 1987, announced his candidacy for the post of president.

Jethmalani was married quite early in life after graduating in law. He is survived by his son Mahesh Jethmalani, also an eminent senior advocate, and daughter Shobha. Two of his children pre-deceased him.

Youngest member of the Bar

Jethmalani had the distinction of appearance in all spectre of cases - constitutional matters, difficult criminal cases or commercial offences.

He began practising as a lawyer in Karachi in pre-Partition India after obtaining the degree of law from Shahani Law College, Karachi, at the age of 17.

The advocate successfully petitioned the High Court in Karachi for lowering the minimum age for practising to 21 and later set up a law firm in Karachi with his friend and senior, A.K. Brohi.

He moved to Mumbai in 1948 after Partition and started practising in the commercial capital of the country where he won a legal battle opposing the the Bombay Refugees Act, which allowed the State to relocate, sequester and question refugees anytime.

Jethmalani earned the distinction of being the youngest member of the Bar - and went on to become the oldest member. He was one of the highest paid advocates in the country.

Jethmalani opposed the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government and the clamping of Maintenance of Internal Security Act, a controversial law allowing authorities to arbitrarily arrest those opposing the government decision.

He defended the accused - Kehar Singh and Balbir Singh - in the Indira Gandhi assassination case. He succeeded in getting acquittal for Balbir Singh and when Singh’s son, Rajinder Singh, was sacked from the government job, he gave him employment in his office.

The lawyers who worked with Jethmalani described him as a real champion of human rights. In his 75-year career, he took up several cases of illegal detention, including that of Sant Longowal during the Punjab militancy in 1980s, and accepted to defend people in most sensitive, difficult and controversial cases from across the country.

Besides the Indira Gandhi assassination case, he defended Rajiv Gandhi’s killer as well at the Madras High Court in 2011.

He also defended Delhi University professor S.A.R. Geelani, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court in the 2011 Parliament attack case.

While critics described him as maverick, rebel and a bold person, they were unanimous that he was the best legal brain in the country and handled most sensitive cases.

Born in Sikharpur of Sindh province on September 14, 1923, Jethmalani’s love for Sindh was manifested when he appeared in the SC and successfully opposed a PIL that demanded removal of the word ‘Sindh’ from the National Anthem.

Contest against Vajpayee

Jethmalani had his first brush with politics in 1971 when he contested as an Independent candidate from Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra supported both by the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. He could not win the election though.

The post-Emergency years saw Jethmalani being elected from Mumbai as a member of parliament in the sixth (1977) and seventh (1980) Lok Sabha on Janata Party and BJP tickets, respectively.

He did not get the Cabinet berth until 1996 when he became Union law minister. In 1998, he served as the minister of urban development under Vajpayee.

He had to resign from the Cabinet over differences with the then Chief Justice of India Adarsh Sein Anand and Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee.

In 2004, he contested the general election against Vajpayee from Lucknow.

However, in 2010, he came back to the BJP and was elected to Rajya Sabha on its ticket from Rajasthan. But in 2013, he was expelled from the BJP for “breach of discipline” for which he filed a suit against the party for expulsion and sought Rs 50 lakh in damages.

The matter was amicably settled after then BJP president Amit Shah expressed “regret” over the senior lawyer’s expulsion.

Jethmalani defended Shah when he was facing a probe in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case in which he was later discharged.

Jethmalani launched a political front called Bharat Mukti Morcha in 1988 and a political party - Pavitra Hindustan Kazhagam - in 1995, with a motto to achieve “transparency” in Indian democracy.