By Kumkum Chadha
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Shibu Soren actually broke down when lawyer-turned-politician Abhishek Manu Singhvi withdrew from the case because he had been tipped to be Additional Solicitor General of India: “Since it was a messy corruption case, I thought it wise to withdraw. It was a wrong decision because the appointment did not happen for a few months”. It was as if the heavens had fallen and Soren and others felt let down: “How can you”, they told Singhvi, “do this to us?” said Singhvi.
This was way back in 1996. Though it was lawyer RK Anand, who became famous with that case, it was initially handled by Singhvi.
Apart from the legal nitty gritty, what endeared Singhvi was the simplicity of tribals: “Tribals are very simple people. They come without any pretensions; they would come in very shabby clothes and torn chappals and that time many of them didn’t have much money anyway. They openly told me what they could afford and I said, “it is okay, I would fight your case. More importantly, they were very honest unlike many litigants who come to me. They said hamne ye kiya tha kyunki hamko sarkar ko support karna thi. I did well for them in the Court,” Singhvi said in an exclusive interview with a national daily.
Once Singhvi withdrew, JMM leaders were in tears: “We trusted you. You have fought well for us and we want you to continue,” they had then told him. But Singhvi had his compulsions and reasons. Looking back, he admits that he was wrong. “It was my fault” he concedes. “There is no reason why I should not have appeared because my appointment happened some eight months later,” Singhvi said.
A much-sought-after lawyer, Singhvi has an impressive and actually envious list of cases he has done—many for which lawyers would give their right arm. One that still rings a bell is the Samba spy case. “This was when I was an ASG: all of 37 years old. It was a great learning curve because standing across the great Soli Sorabjee and Fali Nariman you are actually trembling and you realize the only best friend you have are the numbers of hours you had put in last night,” he said.
As for the case, it was a “bit notorious” given that it involved spying against the country and hence very sensitive issues. “I had to put up a spirited defence. I was there during the phase it was being argued but it did not get over during my tenure,” said Singhvi. However, in those two years that he was there Singhvi says that he “learnt a lot about how the government works. I learnt how when a file comes to you it comes with a pre-determined notion that Dr Singhvi should write yes. So, you have to read between the lines”, he said.
As for the tardy process, he recalls how he had to pay for his air ticket and the reimbursement, some 5,000 rupees, took a few years. That apart, many bills remained pending: “Many years later after I left office, I wrote to Arun Jaitley, then law minister, that please take it as a donation to the law ministry,” Singhvi recalled, stating that the amount did run into a few lakhs.
For someone who has appeared for politicians and parties across the spectrum, the BJP remains kind of out of bounds: “From Sharad Pawar to MK Stalin to Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee and the entire gamut of Aam Aadmi Party leaders and huge number of Congress leaders without surprise, I believe strongly that I should be able to appear for BJP, but that is not the way politics is today. In the old days, it was possible. If you have a toothache, will you go to a good dentist or decide between a BJP or a Congress dentist?” he said, reiterating that there is no reason why “I cannot” appear for the BJP. This is not to suggest that he does not get briefs from BJP people. “But then I have to politely say no” for fear of motives being attributed.
Singling out West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for what Singhvi terms as her “superlative EQ” he said: “She has IQ in abundance, but EQ in superlative abundance”. Arvind Kejriwal, Singhvi said, is “extremely articulate, connects with the people and his simplicity of delivery is amazing”. Mention fault lines, and Singhvi hedged: “I am not here to discuss fault lines” he said abruptly: the first short shrift during the two-part interview.
Closer home, Sonia Gandhi, Singhvi said, is “too democratic and over consultative…a repetitive consultative approach sometimes, yet she is reserved and not knee-jerk in anything. But she is also among those who gets hurt, but does not show it. Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, is more spontaneous and extremely well-meaning, but in politics neither straight talk nor straight decisions are appreciated. He goes for the crux and what is good for the party irrespective of the vested interests or intervening obstacles and therefore he ruffles feathers”.
Between the two, Sonia Gandhi is easier to deal with, said Singhvi. “She is more accessible while Rahul Gandhi does not suffer fools gladly. Given that he is on the move all the time he is less accessible,” he said before signing off.
Had it not been for Singhvi’s legal prowess, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi would perhaps have lost precious years of public life. The reference: Narendra Modi’s surname case wherein Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member, some two years ago. A conviction by the Surat Court had sentenced him to two years imprisonment for defaming the Modi surname: “The consequences of Rahul Gandhi losing that case would be an eight years exclusion from politics in the formative years of his public life. Obviously, I got him relief after he lost in the trial and appellate courts. When the Supreme Court matter started, I called him and told him that I do cases everyday, but for your case I am having sleepless nights. It is something so personal,” said Singhvi. Not the one to mince words, Singhvi told Rahul Gandhi in so many words that people within the Congress as also outside, it are waiting for him to fail. “I feel tensionized,” Singhvi said to which Gandhi said forget the consequences. “Harenge to harenge, you just argue…” And that is what Singhvi went ahead and did.
True to his style, grit and expertise, Singhvi argued the matter and got relief for Gandhi. Singhvi is too modest to take credit, but the fact remains that if Gandhi is in parliament taking on Modi and the BJP, it is thanks to Singhvi: the lawyer par excellence.
—The writer is an author, journalist and political commentator
The post “It Was My Fault”: Abhishek Manu Singhvi Revisits the Case That Made Shibu Soren Weep appeared first on India Legal.