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MRTPC chairman Justice B M Lal dead

Justice B M Lal, whose appointment as chairman of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission was stuck in a ''letter war'' between former law minister Ram Jethmalani and Supreme Court Chief Justice A S Anand last year, died in New Delhi on Wednesday.

He was 63.

Lal suddenly took ill in the morning and was rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where he was declared dead, sources in his office said.

Lal, who was earlier Chief Justice of Patna high court, leaves wife and two sons.

After retirement as Chief Justice, Lal's name was recommended for chairmanship of MRTP over which Jethmalani and Anand exchanged correspondence. The issue also prominently figured in the controversy following the sacking of Jethmalani, who made a reference to it in his book Big Egos, Small Men.

Lal's appointment was later cleared by the Chief Justice of India soon after Arun Jaitley took over as Law Minister and Lal took charge as MRTP chairman on August 4 last year.

He had practised as a lawyer for 21 years in Madhya Pradesh and briefly in the Supreme Court. He acted as Bihar Governor from May to October last year.

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