Ram Jethmalani

Ram Jethmalani
Jethmalani in August 2006
Minister of Law and Justice
In office 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy
Succeeded by	Ramakant Khalap
In office June 1999 – 23 July 2000
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	M. Thambidurai
Succeeded by	Arun Jaitley
Minister of Urban Development
In office 19 March 1998 – 14 June 1999
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Ummareddy Venkateswarlu
Succeeded by	Jagmohan
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 8 July 2016 – 8 September 2019
Constituency	Bihar
In office 5 July 2010 – 4 July 2016
Constituency	Rajasthan
In office 10 April 2006 – 26 August 2009
Constituency	Nominated
In office 3 April 1994 – 9 April 2006
Constituency	Maharashtra
In office 3 April 1988 – 2 April 1994
Constituency	Karnataka
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 1977–1984
Preceded by	Hari Ramchandra Gokhale
Succeeded by	Sunil Dutt
Constituency	Mumbai North-West
Personal details
Born	(1923-09-14)14 September 1923 Shikarpur, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Sindh, Pakistan)
Died	8 September 2019(2019-09-08) (aged 95) New Delhi, India
Political party	Rashtriya Janata Dal (After 2016)
Other political affiliations	Bharatiya Janata Party (1980–85) Janata Dal (1989–93) Pavitra Hindustan Kazhagam (1995) Bharatiya Janata Party (2010–2013)
Spouses	Durga Jethmalani ​ (m. 1941)​ Ratna Jethmalani ​ (m. 1947)​
Residence(s)	2, Akbar Road, New Delhi, India[1]
Alma mater	S.C. Shahani Law College, Karachi- University of Bombay
Profession	Lawyer, Jurist, Professor of Law, Politician, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist

Ram Boolchand Jethmalani (14 September 1923 – 8 September 2019) was an Indian lawyer and politician. He served as India's Union Minister of Law and Justice, as chairman of the Indian Bar Council, and as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Jethmalani obtained his LL.B. degree at the age of 17 and started practising law in his hometown, Shikarpur, until the partition of India. The partition led him to move to Mumbai as a refugee where he began his life and career afresh. He announced his retirement from judicial profession in 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout his political career, Jethmalani worked for improving the relations between India and Pakistan, owing to his experiences as a refugee post-partition. He was elected as member of the Lok Sabha twice, contensting from Janata Party, from the Mumbai North West constituency. He also served as the Union Minister of Urban Development in the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry, against whom he later contested election in the 2004 Indian general elections from the Lucknow constituency. He later returned to BJP in 2010, and was elected to the Rajya Sabha on its ticket.

Jethmalani was awarded the Human Rights Award by World Peace Through Law in 1977. He authored books such as Big Egos, Small Men; Conscience of a Maverick; and Maverick: Unchanged, Unrepentant; among others. He also co-authored legal scholarly books on different fields of law.