[2] Throughout his political career, Jethmalani worked for improving the relations between India and Pakistan, owing to his experiences as a refugee post-partition.
He was elected as member of the Lok Sabha twice, contensting from Janata Party, from the Mumbai North West constituency.
His family includes both of his wives and four children – three by Durga (Rani, Shobha, Mahesh) and one by Ratna (Janak).
[3] According to his son Mahesh Jethmalani, he had been unwell for the last few months of his life, and died at 7:45 am (IST), six days short of his 96th birthday.
[13] Jethmalani later came to be noted for his appearance in the Nanavati case in 1959 with Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, who was later to become the Chief Justice of India.
[18][19] During his career he was involved in a number of high-profile defence cases as lawyer[20] – people involved in market scams (Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh), and a host of gangsters and smugglers including the British citizen Daisy Angus who was acquitted of hashish smuggling after serving five years in jail.
[41] Jethmalani's experience during the partition as a refugee led him to advocate for better relations between India and Pakistan, which he sought throughout his political career.
[42] He contested as an independent candidate from Ulhasnagar supported both by the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Jan Sangh but he lost the elections.
An arrest warrant was issued against him from Kerala which was stayed by the Bombay high court when over three hundred lawyers, led by Nani Palkhivala, appeared for him.
However, the stay was nullified by the habeas corpus judgement in Additional District Magistrate of Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla.
[44] He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1988 and the Union minister of law, justice and company affairs in 1996, in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
During the second tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 1998, he was given the portfolio of Union minister of urban affairs and employment.
In 1995, he launched his own political party called the Pavitra Hindustan Kazhagam, with the motto to achieve "transparency in functioning of Indian democracy".
[44] In the general elections of 2004, he contested against Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the Lucknow constituency as an independent candidate.
The same year, in November, Jethmalani stated "When there are serious allegations against Gadkari, he should have stayed away, if only to raise his stature in the public eye".
[52] In October 2013, defamation charges were framed against BJP seeking ₹50 lakh (US$58,000) as "null and void and damages" for making a statement that he was not a fit person to be member of the party.
[53][51] Jethmalani stepped into the role of an elder statesman, but took action on occasion, as he was also India's oldest practising lawyer.
[54] In 2017, he wrote an open letter to Justice C. S. Karnan, of the Calcutta High Court, who was embroiled in controversy:[55] As a senior member of the Bar and living in the departure lounge of God’s airport I am advising you to withdraw every word that you have uttered and humbly pray for pardon for every stupid action you have so far indulged in, I am sorry to tell you that I am convinced you have lost your mind.