A man for all seasons

Sanjay Jain

PLAINTIVE cries on Arun Jaitley’s demise can’t remain confined to his Kailash Colony residence, from where he shaped the destinies of many of his loved ones and the unknown. His versatility was such that he could effortlessly wear many hats, that of a parliamentarian, a minister, a lawyer, a loyal friend or for that matter a benefactor to anyone who came into his contact. In the most subtle manner, he would emerge as a troubleshooter for his party, his government and his colleagues on all critical occasions.

At the young age of 37, almost overnight, Jaitley was designated as senior advocate and catapulted to the coveted position of Additional Solicitor General of India with the special responsibility of handling Bofors-related legal matters. He acquitted himself brilliantly and when he returned to private practice, he outshone almost all his contemporaries and inarguably became the only lawyer, apart from Kapil Sibal, to put Delhi’s lawyers on the national map. 

It is during this phase of his life that I, as a young counsel, had the privilege of meeting him through my friend Sanjay Karol, presently Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court, in connection with a legal brief. I wanted him to appear before the Gauhati High Court and argue an intellectual property matter in writ jurisdiction, a proposition seemingly absurd in the first blush, which naturally met with his disapproval in the first instance. Next morning, I received a call from Surinder, his then court clerk, asking me to come for a conference. To his credit, he accepted my point of view and agreed to handle the matter, which gave me a lifetime opportunity to spend quality time with him, professionally as well as personally. During visits to Guwahati, I was fortunate enough to receive many pearls of wisdom from him, which I still cherish and try to adhere to. He was erudite and equanimous, which reflected in his handling 

of cases as a lawyer. He filled the slot of a guru in my life, and touched me with his integrity and intellect par excellence.

He was a Delhiwala to the core; he loved his walks and his food in the company of friends. Be it the corridors of courts or Parliament, his lawns or the living rooms of his friends, his void would remain forever, for he was sui generis. The words of Thucydides from The History of the Peloponnesian War would be the best tribute to Jaitley: ‘What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.’