89-year-old lawyer dies of heart attack in HC while arguing case

MUMBAI: Vinayak Trivikram Walavalkar, senior-most lawyer of the Bombay high court, breathed his last doing what he did best. The 89-yearold counsel was arguing a case before Justice R M Sawant when he collapsed in his chair soon after the court day began. The court doctor and his son, Narendra, also a senior lawyer, were called for. The doctor found a pulse but two gasps later, the much-respected veteran lawyer passed away still donning his beloved black robe and surrounded by colleagues, friends and his son. The doctor declared that he had died of a cardiac arrest. "In about five decades, this is the first time that a lawyer has died in court while on his feet, arguing a matter,'' said lawyers Ram and Bal Apte. The judges, as a mark of respect, rose and discontinued work till lunch break following his death. All judges and lawyers paid homage to Walawalkar's body which was kept in the bar room of the Advocates' Association of Western India, of which he was a member. "Walawalkar was an upright, clear-headed, fearless lawyer who led the bar by example and argued forcibly,'' said advocate S G Aney. Ram Apte agreed. "In fact, it came as a jolt to me as I was in the same courtroom and even heard him argue forcefully against some point made by advocate P G Lad in an agricultural land dispute case from Raigad. Walawalkar, even at this age, was very alert. I left the court thinking the matter would go on for a while and was shocked when my junior Vaibhav Patankar came rushing ten minutes later, saying the senior counsel had collapsed.'' Walavalkar, an alumni of Wilson College and Government Law College who began practising in 1944, belonged to a family of lawyers. He was an expert in civil matters and had been a judge of the Mumbai city civil court between 1961 and 1966 before he resigned. Termed a gentleman in legal circles, he was active politically and was, in fact, imprisoned for almost two years during the Emergency. "My father was imprisoned in Pune's Yerawada prison between October 16, 1975 and March 21, 1977 the day on which Emergency was finally lifted. His only crime was that he was an active RSS member and officer bearer in Mumbai and Thane,'' said his son Narendra Walavalkar, himself an accomplished lawyer practising at the high court. Several young lawyers too expressed a sense of loss. Vineet Naik said, "He was a thorough professional and a man of integrity. The young lawyers would look up to him.''

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