New Delhi: Veteran criminal lawyer and former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani passed away on Sunday at his residence here, confirmed advocate Ashish Dixit. Jethmalani was 96. Condolences pour in from Bollywood celebrities for Ram Jethmalani, from Farhan Akhat to Mahesh Bhatt and many more known names took to their respective social media handles to mourn the death of former Union Law Minister, here's how they reacted:


Farhan Akhtar: RIP #RamJethmalani ji. The time spent in conversation with you has always remained etched fondly in my memory. Condolences to the family.


Nimrat Kaur: Growing up, no matter where you were in India, when one learnt of law as a profession, the one name you learnt of that personified it, was Ram Jethmalani. A great man leaves behind a legacy urban folklore is made of. Salute him for his indelible work. #RIPRamJethmalani


Mahesh Bhatt: Even the sky must learn to say goodbye to the stars . I thank you sir for touching my life.. Ram Jethmalani passes away at 95.


Kunal Kohli: #RamJethmalani RIP a fearless legend of our judiciary



He had also served as the Minister of Urban Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. In 2010, he was elected as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Born on September 14, 1923 in Sindh, Pakistan, Jethmalani completed his L.L.M. from the S.C. Shahani Law College, Karachi.

He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977. He took charge as Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs in October 1999 until July 2000 in the Vajpayee.

A noted criminal lawyer, Jethmalani has been part of legendary cases including the famous multi-crore 2G allocation case.

He had appeared for Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh, convicted for the assassination of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict V. Sriharan alias Murugan; Harshad Mehta in the stock market scam; underworld don Haji Mastan in smuggling cases; and had argued for senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani in the Hawala case.

Jethmalani has also written various books including the "Conflict of Laws", "Justice: Soviet Style" and "Big Egos and Small Men".

Specialist in Criminal and Constitutional Law, he was also a part-time professor in Government Law College (Mumbai), Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and Wayne State University in the US.

He also was made Chairman of the Bar Council of India in 1970 and member of International Bar Association in 1966.

May his soul rest in peace!

(Inputs added in IANS copy)