Ram Jethmalani and GP Sippy: Friends who came to Mumbai to practise law

After the partition of India, two friends, who were budding lawyers, came to Mumbai and started their career in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, popularly known as the Esplanade Court. Both had applied for the post of police prosecutor in the railway court and one of them — Ram Jethmalani — was selected while the other left the profession for good. In the coming decades, both excelled in their chosen professions.

“Jethmalani as an expert luminary in the legal world and the other, GP Sippy, as a doyen of the Hindi film industry who gave India blockbusters such as Sholay,” said advocate Vinayak Bichu, who was closely associated with Jethmalani.

Jethmalani was born in Sikhapur town of Sindh division of the then Bombay Presidency, now part of Pakistan. According to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dinanath Tiwari, who was a budding lawyer in the 80s, Jethmalani inspired an entire generation of lawyers. “We used to follow him and regarded him as a guru,” said Tiwari. He recalled an incident after the 1982 Asian Games when a ceremony was organised to facilitate athletes like PT Usha in Mumbai. “We were short of ₹36,000 and after trying everywhere, I called up Jethmalani. He called me, gave me some money and called up two people. The money was collected in a day. That was his influence,” said Tiwari.

Apart from the legal field, Jethmalani also excelled in the political sphere. Jethmalani represented the North West Lok Sabha constituency two times — in 1977 and 1980 — first as a Janata Party candidate and then as BJP candidate. According to former deputy mayor Arun Deo, who was his chief election agent, despite being a high-profile lawyer, Jethmalani was a very accessible public representative. Deo recalls an incident when a massive fire broke out in Kapaswadi in the late 1970s. “Jethmalani spoke to the then Prime Minister Morarjee Desai and ensured the rebuilding of the slums,” he said. However, in the 1984 elections, the Congress, riding on a sympathy following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, had roped in actor Sunil Dutt to fight against Jethmalani. Here, Dutt was able to defeat him.

According to members of the Sindhi community, to which Jethmalani belonged, he made a significant contribution to it. “He was instrumental in the government recognising our language and popularising it. He played a significant role in pleading the cases for the refugees who came from Sindh after the Partition,” said Ram Jawhrani, chairman of Sahyog Foundation.

First Published: Sep 09, 2019 00:29 IST