NEW DELHI: The spirit of fighting for justice runs in the veins of 40-year-old advocate Amar Mulla. He has worked with a progressive attitude against obsolete laws that no longer serve mankind.
Born in a Muslim family in Sangli, Maharashtra, to an army veteran who served in India’s wars against China (1962) and Pakistan (1971), Mulla and his two siblings grew up listening to real-life stories of Operation Blue Star and witnessing their father receiving the Rashtrapati Padak. This background also gave them a chance to live in several Indian cities owing to army transfers.
While his elder brother Dr Zameer Mulla chose to serve as a doctor in the Defence Services, his sister Tabassum Mulla became a healthcare worker serving the poor in far-off areas. Amar Mulla somehow remained true to his childhood passions taking active part in acting, dancing and sports activities in school and college days. The family had settled in Govare in Karad taluka of the Satara district when their father retired.
But, while pursuing B.Com at Venutai Chavan college of Karad, Mulla began to see law as a means to serve his fellow countrymen. He then shifted to Pune for completing his LLB and LLM degree from Bharti Vidyapeeth. He later completed his PhD in Political Science.
Refusing to be a mute spectator
The Shivajinagar court still remembers the bold voice of young Mulla when he began practising as a criminal lawyer. Winning the Pune Bar Association election as an executive member quite early in his career, Mulla refused to be a mute spectator to injustice. Immediately after winning the election, he began fighting for the poor whose voices needed to be heard by the court. He fought several such cases without charging any money and helped the oppressed get justice.
During this time, he also realised how obsolete laws were harming people. He then fought with conviction to make amendments in several laws while also authoring around 10 books that are now taught in law schools and referred to in the Supreme Court.
Mulla never shied away from fighting the good fight, in courtroom or in life. Yet, he stood away from the media and limelight and continued his work.
A decision that changed many lives
During Covid, he offered free-of-cost consultancy services to the needy. Since his sister is a health worker, Mulla always had much empathy for those in the medical field. Healthcare workers who were to be relieved from their services post Covid caught his attention. He fought their case. As a result, the health workers were granted interim relief by the court. He secured the livelihood of nearly 15,000 families in this fight for justice.
Influencing the nation positively
Mulla serves on the advisory body to the Home Ministry and was selected as the general secretary in the International Council of Jurists with its head office in London. Apart from being invited to several law panels in the media, Mulla provides legal assistance and advice to senior IAS and IPS officers. He continues to help the needy while practising law at the Supreme Court.
