`I hope you realise… I am single-handedly fighting whole Govt’

After addressing a packed press conference on Thursday afternoon, his Mercedes takes off for a lecture appointment. When he returns, his daughter Rani is by his side. His aides quickly surround him and the news about the line of defence taken by Attorney General Soli Sorabjee trickles in.Impromptu conclaves begin in his plush drawing room, lined with idols and paintings of deities.

Spotted in his house: Additional Solicitor General S.B. Jaisinghani and Supreme Court lawyer, B L Wadhera. Expected the following day: former Justice Kuldip Singh.

The ex-Minister’s cellular phone rings incessantly. “I’m going abroad for a month in a day or two,” he tells a reporter and quickly adds, “this programme was fixed much in advance and I had taken the Prime Minister’s permission for it.”

Several callers are told that he was holding back his fire till Friday evening, when he was being interviewed by the BBC. Keeping printing schedules in mind, an exception is made for a magazine editor, even as another reporter waits impatiently in the bedroom. Feedback keeps pouring in on phone and it is Jethmalani who keeps up the sense of bravado in his camp.

“In one newspaper editorial, he has already been asked to go,” he says, making a reference, possibly to the Chief Justice. And to a member of his family, on long-distance, “You don’t worry, I’m fine and my blood pressure is normal. They say they will prosecute me for leaking Government secrets. Let them do it if they can.”

By Friday morning, the mood in the Akbar Road bungalow has changed perceptibly. Soli Sorabjee’s rebuttals have got prominent play in the newspapers and the Prime Minister has given a statement in Parliament supporting his law officers. Jethmalani briefly speaks to a group of journalists in his drawing-room but others drop in afterwards, requesting him for documents he annexed with his statement to Parliament.

“I had one set which is not with me,” Jethmalani repeats, the strain of the eventful week showing upon him. The persistence annoys one of his junior lawyers. “We have to keep his long-term interests in mind. Why don’t you ask the AG for the information instead?” she asks.

Jethmalani, known for the free access he has given to the press and his preference of leaving his drawing room doors wide open, looks a trifle embarrassed. He pauses while while giving an interview to a dotcom firm and says, “I hope you realise the odds I am up against. I am today single-handedly fighting the whole Government.”

In Jethmalani’s office, it is confusion confounded. More requests for interviews are coming in on phone and members of the residential staff, realising what the loss of ministerial status means, keep up a brave face. One aide says a “well-wisher” of the ex-Minister had removed a file containing some sensitive documents on Thursday night, saying this was not the time to have the papers lying around. He does’nt say it, but as the worst-case scenario, Jethmalani’s staff may have apprehended a search and decided to play safe.

Jethmalani, they say was was leaving the city for a day and would return to Delhi on Sunday afternoon and finalise the dates for his foreign trip. Expecting the next batch of journalists to troupe in for unscheduled interviews, on of his aides orders, “Shut the drawing room door. Let’s chart out his programme over the next few hours. Then he has to leave for the BBC studio.”