Jethamalani and Manu Sharma

A few years ago I interviewed India's legal ace Ram Jethmalani when he visited Kochi.

He was really sweet to talk at length to me. One of the questions that I posed to him then was: Why he does he defend people like Indira Gandhi’s assassins?

Ram replied: There comes a time in every lawyer’s life when he is called to defend such people. I consider it is as my duty to defend such a person if I am approached.

The brouhaha erupting over Ram Jethmalani defending Manu Sharma seems so silly. The man should be admired for having the gumption to defend such a person. Never mind the fact that I think Manu Sharma deserves the worst punishment if he did commit the crime.

It is not this eminent lawyer (a shame some said on TV) who should be blamed for callously defending this criminal ( that's his duty) but for the fact that a 100 people saw Manu Sharma pull the trigger and yet there is no concrete evidence. That speaks a lot for the people and our system.

And it was funny to see Sagarika of CNN IBN interviewing Jethmalani. She sounded like some greenhorn who had no idea how to handle people and situations. Or perhaps she is the smart one?!! Her questions were perhaps phrased in such a way to improve the channel ratings rather than trying to understand Jethamalani and why he was defending Manu Sharma! And she sure did that?!

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