He is the favourite legal eagle of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). Advocate Raja Thakare, known to have handled a great number of major cases related to terror attacks and scams, and for getting the near maximum number of convictions under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), has now been appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) in the infamous J. Dey murder case.
Philip Varghese met him at his office in Maruti Mansion in the Fort area, where he spoke at length about the profession and a little about his personal life.
The shelves of law books behind his chair and the piles of legal papers on his table indicate an extremely busy man, one who was squeezing time to fit us in for the interview. But Raja Thakare is a generous man, once he decides to give you time. And he was generous with us.
“My day starts at 5.30 am and then I go for a walk which makes me prepared mentally for the day’s busy work. Then by 10 am, I am here in my office to see the day’s schedule and make preparations before I reach the court. At 5.30 pm, I am in my office to meet my clients. I hardly find time for interviews and the media because I choose to keep a low profile,” Thakare said.
Presently, Thakare is handling the Pune German Bakery blast case of 2006, the July 2006 Mumbai local train blast case, the arrest of 21 Indian Mujahideen terrorists in Mumbai under the MCOCA, the case of major arms recovery in Aurangabad in 2006. He is also doing his job as a SPP in two MCOCA cases registered in the city against Arun Gawli.
Thakare came into the limelight when he first appeared as special public prosecutor for CBI in the securities scam involving ‘Big Bull’ Harshad Mehta and his brother Ashwin in the year 1994. “It was one of the best cases I had ever handled and I got five convictions in that case. In fact, this case, which was also known as the 1992 securities scam, was a very new subject for any lawyer in the state. However, since I had already been a defence lawyer earlier, I knew what to expect from the defence. Finally, when I got five convictions in this case, it was the turning point of my career as a prosecutor and the state entrusted several more cases to me,” he said.
Thakare, who graduated from Ramnarayan Ruia College in Matunga, in 1973, was keen on legal studies since his college days. “My family background is of intellectuals like doctors and engineers. Even though my father was a law graduate, he never practised law. My elder sister is a first class civil engineer from VJTI.
So everyone was expecting me to become a Chartered Accountant or an engineer. However, I showed interest in legal studies and wanted to actually practice law. That’s how finally my goal was set and I became a lawyer,” the 59-year-old legal eagle told us.
Thakare was the special public prosecutor in the Abdul Karim Telgi multi-crore fake stamp paper scam, which is considered to be one of the biggest nationwide rackets involving senior police officers and politicians from across the country. “When the Telgi case was exposed, the state government was looking for a prosecutor with mega cases and with experience of handling documentary evidence apart from oral evidences. That’s how my name figured in the list and I was asked to take up the case. I spent my days and nights studying the case properly,” said Thakare.
Thakare is also defending former State Reserve Police Force sub-inspector, Manohar Kadam who was convicted for firing on a Dalit mob at Ramabai Nagar in Ghatkopar in 1997, killing 10 persons.
Interestingly, not many are aware that, before switching over to fighting for prosecuting agencies, Thakare had defended members of the Chhota Rajan gang and several other underworld gangsters. “I had represented gangsters in their cases for several years and was known as a gangster’s lawyer. However, now I know that prosecutor’s job is too tough as he has to study the facts really well and prepare a water tight case against the accused,” he said.
Even though Thakare chose to remain silent on the details of the J. Dey murder case, speaking about his appointment as SPP, he said, “I am glad that the state government has entrusted me with this case. I am reading the relevant papers and studying the case from scratch to ensure a water tight case against the accused.”
When not in the courtroom or amidst law books, Thakare, who also plays the violin, spends his time listening to Indian classical music and attending concerts. “Music is something that takes me to another world. I still have a German violin at home, though I don’t get time to play it. After the day’s tiring work, when I am travelling back home, I listen to classical music in my car for an hour till I reach my residence at Ghatkopar. On free days, I attend classical concerts with my family.”
What keeps this SPP going on with so much zeal for law? “The entire credit goes to my wife Sheela. She is a teacher for Mathematics at the Jhunjhunwala College at Ghatkopar and is always surrounded by students. Even though she is also a working professional, she has given me a solid support on the home front and has never complained to me for anything. My 30-year-old son, Bhaskar, is an engineer and is settled in the US.
Talking about the changes in the legal profession, Thakare said, “I have seen the changes in the legal fraternity for the past 35 years. But now, this profession has got recognition. Today’s law students are brilliant. However, they lack patience which sometimes affects the cases.”