[Pictured, a young Ram Jethmalani]

Ram Jethmalani may never be invited to speak at a conference again. The former Union Minister for Law, who appears to enjoy courting controversy, created a furore yet again at the International Conference of Jurists on 'International Terrorism and Rule of Law'. Speaking at the conference, he expressed contempt for "a certain Mr. Wahab from Saudi" who, according to him spawned Islamic terrorism, to fight the decline of Islam. His remarks caused grave offence to the Saudi Ambassador to India, Faisal-al-Trad, who walked out of the conference, organised as part of the National Law Day Awards. Sources present at the awards say that while Law Minister Moily was attempting to smooth over matters by apologising, Jethmalani was comfortably napping!

The Law Minister made it very clear in his speech that Jethmalani's statements were not reflective of the government's stand. Jethmalani's airing of his opinions met with disapprobation from several quarters. "It was exceptionally rude of him to speak that way. He definitely sounded anti-Islam," said Ajit Mishra, one of the awardees. 

Jethmalani's penchant for controversy has led to criticism from the legal community several times. His decision to defend accused Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder created waves within the media and the legal fraternity. His response to the criticism was fiery, and left CNN-IBN interviewer Sagarika Ghosh in tears. His interview with Karan Thapar was a clash of titans, and left both parties fuming at each other.

More recently, Jethmalani made the news when he wrote a column in a leading newspaper against the grant of a party ticket to actor Sanjay Dutt, on the grounds that he was a threat to security. The column was all the more shocking for the fact Jethmalani had represented Dutt in the 1993 blast case, and was now walking a fine line on client confidentiality.

A graduate of the Karachi Law College, he qualified at the age of eighteen to practice at the Bar. Since the Bar Council Rules did not permit him to practice until he reached the age of 21, he sought an appointment with Sir Godfrey Davis, the Chief Justice of the Sind High Court, and convinced him to recommend to the Bar Council to implement a proviso for special cases like his. He first came into the limelight in the Nanavati matter, where he assisted the then public prosecutor, Y.V. Chandrachud.  He became the first Indian citizen to be granted asylum in the United States when an arrest warrant was issued against him for criticising the imposition of Emergency in 1975.

He has astounded several Prime Ministers with his snappy comebacks. An oft-quoted anecdote is his interruption of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai's lecture on celibacy, when he retorted, "Had my wife looked like yours, I would've turned celibate at 18."

He once said, "Democracy would become a graveyard if there were no interesting controversies to keep it throbbing and in good health." As long as he lives, we may be sure that Democracy will continue to thrive.