NM Ghatate enjoyed the confidence of both men, something which was impossible when they were at the height of their power
In the passing away of senior Supreme Court lawyer NM ‘Appa’ Ghatate recently, many would recall his silent contribution in the building of the BJP and its predecessor the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS). Appa, was the bridge between late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Krishna Advani. He had attended the Prince of Wales’ Royal Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun between 1949-53, the school I studied at three decades later. At an alumni function, I was introduced to him by the patriarch of the school’s alumni association late Maj-Gen Virendra Singh, sometime in the 1990s, soon after I had landed a job with The Pioneer. Since like Appa, I too had not made it to the armed forces, we got along well. He had a good legal practice and rumour had it that he was hired by Charles Sobhraj, the enigmatic international gangster.
Once Appa called me to his Hailey Road apartment to discuss the possibility of doing a book on VK Krishna Menon. “I was his legal junior when he took up practice in the Supreme Court after resigning from Nehru’s Cabinet,” he told me. It was at that meeting that one realised that Appa was a keen student of India’s history and politics. An obituary by Vinay Sitapati, the author of ‘Jugalbandi: BJP Before Modi’ failed to mention Appa’s schooling at the RIMC. The institution, known for having given the finest military leaders to both India and Pakistan, embedded in Appa certain values which stood out all through his life.
Despite being from a family which was the founding pillar of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu Mahasabha, the BJS and his lifelong loyalty to the right of the centre ideology, Appa was much at ease even in the company of the school’s alumni from across the border. He was part of the delegation led by Gen Vishwa Nath Sharma, the former Chief of Army Staff, which travelled across the Radcliffe Line in 1996 to invite their schoolmates to celebrate the RIMC’s platinum jubilee in March 1997. Consequently, a large Pakistani delegation turned up under the leadership of veteran diplomat and former Foreign Minister Sahibzada Yaqub Khan. The unique thing about this visit was that the Pakistani military leaders were hosted by their Indian counterparts and they stayed at their homes including one at the house of Gen Harbaksh Singh, who was instrumental in India handing the neighbours a humiliating defeat in 1965.
One realised that Appa was much influenced by his lifelong friend Vajpayee. Their friendship went back to 1957, when the young lawyer was given the task of taking the newly-elected Member of Parliament around Delhi. And Appa did it in style with Vajpayee riding pillion on his Royal Enfield motorcycle. Appa came in contact with Advani when the latter joined Vajpayee’s team in the late 1950s. Like his father Babasaheb Ghatate was the bridge between Hindu Mahasabha leader VD Savarkar and RSS head Guru Golwarkar, Appa was the link between Vajpayee and Advani. He enjoyed the confidence of both the men, something which was impossible when they were at the height of their power during the NDA-I regime.
Appa was a self-effacing person and during the alumni meets in Dehradun, when his contemporaries would stay in the guest rooms of a military mess, Appa preferred to stay in the school dormitories. He went back to RIMC every year for the annual reunion. Alas! He would not be there to attend the school centenary in 2022.
Post Vajpayee’s demise, there were a slew of books on him but it was Appa who was the ‘official’ custodian of his papers. He edited Vajpayee’s speeches in the Hosue published under the title, ‘Four Decades in Parliament.’ Appa’s also articulated well on issues of parliamentary law and criminal jurisprudence. He was a doctorate from the American University, Washington DC and taught international relations before returning to legal practice.
As Vice-Chairman of the Law Commission he was instrumental in the formation of the Armed Forces Tribunal for speedy dispute resolution. The armed forces would forever remain indebted to him for it.
The writer is Professor-Chairperson, VIPS, GGSIPU, Delhi. The views expressed are personal.