Rambalak Mahto

Ram Balak Mahto was the longest serving advocate general of the state of Bihar. He was the chief legal advisor of Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Between 1937 and 2020, only 20 advocate generals were appointed to act as representative of state government in legal matters, and out of them, Mahto alone was appointed six times, becoming the longest-serving advocate general. He served both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav led government, and was first appointed to the post in the year 1980.[2][3]

Ram Balak Mahto
Ram Balak Mahto
Former Advocate General of Bihar[1]
In office
1980–1984
In office
1985–1989
In office
1990–1993
In office
2010–2015
In office
2015–2020
Personal details
Born27 January 1924
Bihar
NationalityIndian
ChildrenLate Shri Upendra Prasad

Shri Birendra Prasad [ MLA from Teghra (Vidhan Sabha constituency)]

Shri Nagendra Prasad Mrs. Surbila Prasad Mrs. Draupadi Sinha

Mrs. Meena Singh
ResidencePatna
OccupationLawyer

Life and career

Mahto served as advocate general during the tenure of six chief ministers of Bihar. He was appointed for the first time in the premiership of Bindeshwari Dubey in 1980. Later, he also served under Indian National Congress rule with Bhagwat Jha Azad and Satyendra Narayan Sinha as chief ministers.[4] Mahto served as legal advisor of Lalu Prasad Yadav and secured the candidacy of one of his sons, Virendra Kumar, for Teghra Vidhan Sabha constituency from Rashtriya Janata Dal. Being successful in the elections of 2015, his son joined Janata Dal (United) in 2020.[5] The interregnum in the career of Mahto came when Jitan Ram Manjhi replaced him with D.K Sinha as advocate general; however, Nitish reappointed him once again after taking charge as chief minister in 2017.[6] He won many important cases for the Government of Bihar and played an important role in controversial cases like that of Mohammad Shahabuddin, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader accused of the infamous acid attack case of Siwan.[7][8]

He died in October 2020 at the age of 98. He was suffering from heart disease for a long time.[9]

References
  1. "बिहार के पूर्व महाधिवक्ता रामबालक महतो की हृदयगति रुकने से निधन, राज्यपाल और मुख्यमंत्री ने व्यक्त की शोक संवेदना". Dainik Bhaskar. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020. Trans: He became the Advocate General of the state six times. He held this position the most number of times. Apart from these, Kanhaiya Prasad Verma became Advocate General 2 times. First became Advocate General in 1980. He held the post of Advocate General for the second time from 1985-89, the third time from 1990-93 and the fourth time from 2010-2015. After this, he became the state's advocate for the fifth time and the sixth time in 2015
  2. "छठी बार महाधिवक्ता बन राम बालक महतो ने रचा इतिहास". Dainik Bhaskar. Archived from the original on 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  3. "Bihar CM's legal advisor and longest serving advocate general Ram Balak Mahto no more". Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  4. "साक्षात्कार : न्यायपालिका के साथ सामंजस्य पहली प्राथमिकता : महाधिवक्ता". Jagan.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-10-30. Rambalak Mahato has discharged the responsibility of Advocate General during the six Governments of the state. For the first time, he was appointed Advocate General from 5 April 1985 to 11 December 1989 during the tenure of Congress Chief Minister Bindeshwari Dubey. After that, the tenures of Congress Chief Ministers Bhagwat Jha Azad and Satyendra Narayan Sinha remained in office from 12 April 1990 to 1 December 1993. He was also the Advocate General during the tenure of Chief Minister Lalu Prasad in the RJD government.
  5. "Bihar: One more RJD MLA joins JD(U) ahead of polls". Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  6. "साक्षात्कार : न्यायपालिका के साथ सामंजस्य पहली प्राथमिकता : महाधिवक्ता". Jagan.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-10-30. He was also the Advocate General in the coalition government led by Nitish Kumar with the support of BJP and continues to hold the post with the support of JDU. During his tenure, Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had appointed DK Sinha as Advocate General, removing him from the post, but did not take charge. While assuming power after Manjhi, Nitish again made Rambalak Mahato the advocate general.
  7. "Bihar govt to approach SC for cancellation of Shahabuddin's bail". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  8. "Siwan acid attack case: Patna High Court upholds life sentence of Mohammad Shahabuddin". Indian Express. 30 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  9. "पंचतत्व में विलीन हुए पूर्व महाधिवक्ता राम बालक महतो". live hindustan. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
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