Senior advocate Vakharia no more; SG Mehta says lost ‘mentor, father figure’

“His legal training is imbibed in me and all those who worked with him are either eminent lawyers or eminent judges now in their own right. Shri Vakharia would continue to live in all of us till the last of his colleagues practising law continue to practise”, said Mehta.

“My 10-year-long association with him at his office is long enough to stand the testimony to the fact that he was more than just a senior to a young lawyer. I owe him much more than just a tribute. He was a man of values, virtues and righteousness”, Mehta said in a statement. He remained with Vakharia till 2004. Mehta recalled how Vakharia was not only a jurist “in his own right” but read voraciously on other non-legal subjects.

“He taught all his juniors that a lawyer who merely knows the law is like a mason constructing a building. On the other hand, a lawyer knowing other subjects like history, sociology, economics, etc is equated with an architect constructing a masterpiece,” the SG said, adding, “He will continue to inspire me”.

Among others who Vakharia mentored include Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas and former Acting Chief justice of Gujarat High Court Justice Jayant Patel. Justice RA Mehta, who declined to become Gujarat’s Lokayukta even after the Supreme Court held his appointment that was objected to by the state government in 2013, and Justice RH Shukla of the HC were also mentored by Vakharia.

A former Congress party veteran, Vakharia was the party’s general secretary in 1972. He had worked closely with late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Vakharia told this paper in 2020.

Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association President Pruthviraj Jadeja said, “Vakharia saheb was a legend of Gujarat High Court bar. Ever since I started practising law at Gujarat High Court, I found him to be a very meticulous and hardworking lawyer who always helped junior advocates. He was very down to earth and courteous,” Jadeja said.

A native of Amreli, Vakharia was a multifaceted personality. Apart from being a designated senior advocate at the HC, he also held the office of Chairman of Legal Cell of the Gujarat Congress for a long time. Moreover, he was also the longest-serving president of Vishwa Gujarati Samaj, a powerful organisation of Gujarati diaspora.

Paying his tributes, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “Vakharia saheb was a Congress stalwart who performed his duties as Chairman of the Legal Cell for long. He had once contested for the Assembly elections. The Congress has lost a stalwart today.”

Doshi added that he was a helpful person. “Also, the most important factor of his personality was his networking skills. The credit to establish Vishwa Gujarati Samaj at the world level goes to Vakharia saheb,” he said.

In November 2021, SG Tushar Mehta, had organised a function to felicitate the senior advocate in Ahmedabad. The function was attended by Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, sitting judge of Supreme Court MR Shah and almost all the important legal personalities of Gujarat.

“Most become legends after their lifetime. There are a few who become legends in their lifetime. Vakharia saheb is such a person who has become a legend in his lifetime… He not only practised law but also developed a strong bar. When we entered (the legal field), we were not lawyers. Vakharia saheb moulded us into lawyers,” Mehta had then said.

At the same event, senior HC advocate Nirupam Nanavati stated that Vakharia was into student politics, labour union activities under Congress’s Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and social work and also had a thriving legal practice in his prime. He recalled that Vakharia’s office gave four high court judges and a number of designated senior advocates like Mehta.

Vakharia is survived by wife Lilaben, son Mehul who runs a law firm and daughters Avani and Bindu.