Goolam Vahanvati : An Inspiration for Young Lawyers
Goolam Vahanvati is one of the most eminent names in the world of Indian legal system. Born to the lawyer Essaji Vahanvati, he was a senior counsel of India who served as the thirteenth Attorney General for the country. It was in June 2009 when he began his first time in office
and continued for three years. He was also the very first Muslim who became the senior-most law official of the Indian government. The politics of India was deeply influenced by Vahanvati.
The Career of Vahanvati
Goolam Essaji Vahanvati began practicing at the Bombay High Court. He worked under the likes of Ashok Sen, Ashok Desai, and Soli Sorabjee. According to information mentioned on website of Goolam Vahnvati he became a senior advocate in March 1990 and was designated as the Advocate General of Maharashtra in December 1999. He served as the Advocate General of the state till June 2004 and was promoted as the Solicitor General of India. In his legal career, he dealt with a number of high-profile cases such as the stock market scam as well as the Enron cases.
He appeared in the bench of nine judges in the hearing of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India, the case of the tainted Ministers, Kuldip Nayar challenging the amendments of the Representation of the People’s Act with regards to the Rajya Sabha, in all the matters related to the sealing as well as challenges to Delhi Laws Special Provisions Act of 2007. The state of Maharashtra was represented by Vahanvati in the public interest litigation petition which was filed during the fake stamp paper’s scam.
He went on to successfully defend the challenges to the reservation quota of the OBCs in educational institutes at a higher level. Vahanvati appeared as the amicus curiae for the Union of India/CBI as well as the MP Local Area Development Scheme in the matter related to power of court transferring the investigation to CBI with no prior consent taken from the State government concerned. Vahanvati, along with Steven Majied, the High Court Judge, was also appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for holding an inquiry into certain racism allegations in Zimbabwe. It was in September 2004. Not only that, in December 2005, he was also designated as the Single Member Commission for probing into the matter of South African crickets being racially abuse allegedly in the South African tour at Australia.
In 2012, Vahanvati’s term as the Attorney General of India got a two-year extension. In January 2014, the Government of India as well as others forwarded his name in the “eminent jurists” category to the selection panel of the Lokpal. From a very young age, Vahanvati lived a life of tumults and turmoil. Hailing from a middle-class family, he had to face numerous financial hurdles. Yet, he thrived and how! After graduating from St. Xavier’s College, he got a law degree from the Government Law College of Mumbai. He cracked almost all the exams he appeared for and that too with flying colours. Throughout his life, he credited Essaji Vahanvati, his father, for being his inspiration. It is because of his extreme devotion to his profession along with certain endearing traits that gave him the honour of being at the highest legal position of India. Let’s go through some of the major highlights of Vahanvati’s life as one of the most well-known lawyers of India:
The Dissolution of Bihar Assembly Case
In 2005, Vahanvati defended the Centre in the matter of the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly recommended by Buta Singh, the then-governor of Bihar. As per Vahanvati, Singh’s action came from a place of propriety as well as fairness in order to protect the political procedure’s purity. He also stressed on the fact that if the governor let the parties form a government, it would legitimize corruption. According to him, the views of the governor were legitimate and bonefide. He wanted to put an end to the trend of discernable political mechanization which was predominant in the state at that time due to corruption, allurements and bribery.
The 2G Scam Case
In the year 2013, Vahanvati was left furious after being charged with an array of allegations. Among other charges, one that stood out the most was A.Raja’s accusation of Vahanvati narrating a number of lies against the former Telecom Minister and also the prime accused in the case of 2G spectrum scam. According to Raja, Vahanvati evaluated and green-signaled all the actions of Raja. The attorney general, interestingly, was quiet amused by an accused accusing him and in his defense, stated that A. Raja was using his hold on a powerful party to give life to his hidden agenda. All that the pioneer lawyer wanted was to save his image from being tarnished by false accusations. His honour was at stake here and he was attacked on multiple occasions at multiple levels. It also left his marriage in shambles. Vahanvati’s points in defense got validated as Raja got acquitted for the scam case.
The Case of Granting Reservations to OBCs in Higher Education
In his tenure as the Solicitor General of the country, Vahanvati handled a couple of controversial cases related to many constitutional as well as revenue matters. Having said that, it was his success at defending the challenge on the matter of the much talked-about 27 percent quota for Other Backward Classes in the reputed educational institutions of the centre. He raised important questions while also stating that if the court comes to the conclusion to exclude the ‘creamy layer’, the Centre would surely obey. However, he also emphasized on the fact that the number of seats increasing in numerous educational institutions would have zero effects on the general quota. Also, this 27% quota would stagger for three years. Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan headed the five-judge Constitutional Bench in front of which Vahanvati put forth his viewpoints. All thanks to his determination and efforts, the centre won the case as the verdict was in its favour. The government also went on mentioning that just a handful of institutes had increased the number of seats and only for research purposes.
The Death of Vahanvati
Goolam Vahanvati died on the 2nd of September 2014 at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital where he was admitted for a lung infection. However, it was a massive cardiac arrest which took away the life of the legend. He was 65 years old and was sick for almost three months. On the 11th of September 2014, a commemorative event, a full court references with all the judges of the court. The senior-most office of the bar as well as other lawyers was held at the court of the Chief Justice of India. Numerous eminent personalities along with a plethora of lawyers took to social media for expressing the extreme loss in the Indian legal system left by Vahanvati’s passing away. He is still remembering for finding an easy way out even in the toughest of cases. At times when juniors received the wrath of certain judges, Vahanvati never lost his calm and always dealt with the situations politely.
Among many other impressive traits, Vahanvati was particularly known for his sharp memory as he dealt with more than thirty cases per day. Whenever he argued during a case, the court would be flooded with young law students admiring and learning from him. One of the most hardworking lawyers that India has ever seen, Vahanvati had varying interests. He loved the 1950s’ style of Cuban music along with having a thing for horse riding. He also collected rock music of Led Zeppelin as well as Jim Morrison. Vahanvati was a man of various talents. He loved food and never shied away from sharing his recipes and culinary secrets with his readers. He often took to various magazine columns for publishing food recipes. Even after six years of his death, Vahanvati continues to inspire young law aspirants to choose a career of determination and devotion.
