Goolam Vahanvati – A “nonesuch”

Before I actually ever met Goolam, I had already heard a lot about him, as in the Bombay High Court of the early 1980s, he was already a bit of a legend. He was considered to be the ‘go-to’ junior counsel of the Bombay Bar. He was Mr. F.S. Nariman’s favourite, and combined extreme intelligence with prodigious hard work..His preparation was always several steps ahead of the others and the elegance of his drafting was much talked about. Goolam himself told me later that there were many occasions on which he had drafted seven pleadings in one day, which was probably a record of sorts..For the first 10 years of my practice, Goolam’s and my path intersected intermittently. We worked with and against each other in a few matters but there was no real interaction. Our relationship really began on a day in the month of March, 1990 when I went to to his office and asked whether he would be willing to appear for Indian Airlines (a newly acquired client of mine), before the Commission of Enquiry that had been instituted to investigate into the A320 crash at Bangalore earlier that year. This was the plane on which Mr. Ashok Birla and many others had met their untimely demise. Goolam immediately accepted and told me, “Raian, you will be very happy to know that I have just been designated a Senior Counsel.”.I remember saying to him – I have only one condition; that is if you accept the brief then please do not leave me midway as I will then have nowhere to turn to. He said he would not, and more than kept his word. The matter went on for a period of six months in Bangalore and Goolam was in attendance throughout. Not only had he mastered the facts as well as all aspects of the law, but he was always five steps ahead of the opposition. He also ensured throughout the proceedings that the client was favourably reported about in the Press by informally addressing various reporters who were covering the hearing every day. That was probably one of the only enquiries in which the airline came out completely unscathed. Navroze Seervai who was the junior counsel agrees with me that in that one matter he proved to us what Fali Nariman always said of him, that he was the genius of the Bombay Bar. From that day onwards, we became close friends and interacted on many subsequent occasions..When I look back and try to describe the person that Goolam was, I must first refer to a tradition in their family. In their family they have a tradition that the grandson carries the grandfather’s name. So Goolam’s father was called Essaji Goolam, he himself was called Goolam Essaji and his son is now called Essaji Goolam. There were, therefore, many Goolam Vahanvatis in their family. However, nomenclature apart, my friend was unrivalled and would be best described in the words that people used to describe the English Cricketer of the yesteryears – W.G. Grace. W.G. Grace was called a `nonesuch’. Goolam was a nonesuch..He combined an extraordinary level of intelligence with penetrating insight and prodigious hard work. But while many people have the above three attributes, he added to the same a wealth of wordly experience that made him one of the most street-smart people I knew. However, one attribute that he did not possess was indifference. He was not indifferent to anyone or to things around him. He was passionate about most of the things that concerned him and this is what made him different. Not only was he very passionate about his profession, but he also had a variety of other hobbies in which he was equally immersed. I still remember when I first met him, he showed me his vast collection of music CDs all chronologically indexed and kept so that whenever he wanted to hear a particular song he just went straight to the relevant CD and would make you hear the song. He was equally passionate about horse racing. Since his childhood days, he was a regular at the race-course and not only owned several horses but knew their pedigree and lineage by heart – his own as well as those belonging to others. He always told me that if he had not been a lawyer he could have been an advisor to the Sheikhs on horse racing. My first trip to the race-course was with him and is forever etched in my memory. I also recollect with great fondness a weekend that we spent together at his farm house in Pune, where I was given a detailed tour of every nook and cranny of his farm and he told me about the different plants, their characteristics, where he bought the seed for the same and when he had planted them. His knowledge about horticulture was as encyclopedic as that of the law. He was also an excellent cook and I remember on that particular trip him telling me – “Tomorrow I am going to buy the meat myself and will make for you the best mutton curry you have ever eaten”. He kept his promise..Post 1990, Goolam and I stayed in touch throughout and it was I think somewhere in the year 1999 that I received a call from him while I was in Jaipur. He said his name was one of those suggested for the post of Advocate General of Maharashtra and he had called for a little advice and help. A month later the State had a new Advocate General and my friend occupied the chair which had once been Seervai’s. Goolam, to my mind, restored the office to its past glory. At that time, I had occasion to brief him as AG on behalf of the Cellular Industry in what was known as the WLL litigation in the year 2000 and that was another one of his superlative performances that I witnessed..In the year 2004, he came to Delhi as Solicitor General and spent the next 10 years as a Law Officer; the first five as the Solicitor General and the last five years as Attorney General. Delhi for him brought a mixed bag of fortune, both on the personal and professional front. He got divorced and re-married in those 10 years and whilst he attained great heights as a lawyer, namely being the first Attorney General of India from his community; he was kept busy defending a Government repeatedly embroiled in scandal, and found his own credibility suffering a personal dent. His last three years in the profession were not ones that he would have looked upon with much fondness..A little prior to the change in Government, Goolam suddenly came down with a viral infection which resulted in him going in and out of the hospital. I spoke to him just 4- 5 days before his untimely demise and he indicated to me that he had become better and would shortly be resuming work. It was, therefore, with a great surprise and horror that I received the news of his death on 2nd September, 2014. On that day, the Bar lost a genius and I lost a good friend..(The piece above is an edited excerpt from a speech delivered in Bombay on September 6, 2014)