India has lost finest lawyer with passing away of Ram Jethmalani: KK Venugopal

Attorney General K K Venugopal on Sunday said with the passing away of noted jurist Ram Jethmalani, the country has lost its finest lawyer who was bold and handled the most sensational criminal cases and constitutional matters.

"His passing away is a great loss not only to the Bar in the country but also to Parliament and the country as a whole," Venugopal told PTI.

The Attorney General said Jethmalani's boldness set him apart as one of the finest lawyers that the country had.

"According to me, he was a lawyer, was larger than life handling the most sensational cases, especially criminal cases as I, therefore, told him once that he is a leader of the criminal Bar of the country. His retort was, 'I am also the no. 1 constitutional lawyer'. This is because he was handling cases across the board," Venugopal said.

The Attorney General said Jethmalani was a very outspoken person and did not mince words even against the judiciary.

He remembered him as a senior advocate who was there in most of the big criminal appeals and constitutional cases.

Jethmalani passed away at his official residence in New Delhi on Sunday at the age of 95, his family members said.