Former attorney general Vahanvati passes away

Famous for his memory and legal acumen, he was the first Muslim to become India's Attorney General

Goolamhussein Essaji Vahanvati, the 13th Attorney General of India, passed away after a heart attack on Tuesday. Vahanvati, the government's top law officer in 2009-14 (he was Solicitor General in the five prior years) was 65. He had a lung infection for a while and had been taken to hospital.

Manmohan Singh, the country's prime minster during 2004-14, said: "India has lost an eminent legal luminary, a dedicated public servant and a very decent human being.”

Vahanvati quit as AG on May 27, after the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government took over the reins. He was succeeded by Mukul Rohatgi. Prior to being the central government's Solicitor General in 2004, he was advocate-general of Maharashtra, from 1999.

A second-generation lawyer, he is survived by his wife and son. Born on May 7, 1949, he graduated from Government Law College in Mumbai after a degree from St. Xavier's College. Vahanvati, whose father was also a lawyer, was the first Muslim to become India’s Attorney General. He was from a Gujarati family involved in the shipbuilding business, which was also the origin of the family name, derived from ‘vahan’ or ship in Gujarati.

He was famous for his memory and legal acumen. Vahanvati had represented the Maharashtra State Electricity Board in its dispute with American energy giant Enron on the Dabhol power project in the late 1990s. Vahavati also appeared on behalf of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in his legal cases against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 2005 to 2008.

His role as Solicitor General had come for investigation in the 2G telecom spectrum scam. He was later given a clean chit.