 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "K. K. Venugopal" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
K. K. Venugopal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 13thAttorney-General for India | |
| In office 1 July 2017 (2017-07-01) – 30 September 2022 (2022-09-30) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Mukul Rohatgi |
| Succeeded by | R. Venkataramani |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kottayan Katankot Venugopal (1931-09-06)6 September 1931 (age 94) |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Awards |
|
Kottayan Katankot Venugopal (born 6 September 1931) is an Indian constitutional lawyer and asenior advocate in theSupreme Court of India.[1] He was enrolled as an advocate on 27 January 1954. On 1 July 2017, he was appointed as theAttorney General of India and retired on 30 September 2022.[2][3] He is Patron of SAARCLAW (A regional apex body ofSAARC) and earlier has been its President.[4] He is founder of M K Nambyar SAARCLAW Centre For Advanced Legal Studies at theNALSAR University of Law.[5]
Venugopal was born in aNair family to Meloth Krishnan Nambiar and Kalyani Nambiar inKanhangad, a town in theSouth Canara district of theMadras Presidency ofBritish India (present-dayKerala), and grew up inMangalore.[6]
Venugopal was a student atSt. Aloysius College, Mangalore.[7] He then enrolled atMadras Christian College,Chennai, to complete his degree in Physics and dropped out as he fell ill during the final exams.[8][9] Afterwards, he did his degree inLaw atRaja Lakhamgouda Law College, Belgaum.[10]
In 1970, K.K. Venugopal appeared in theSupreme Court of India on behalf of an aspiring medical student for hisMBBS admission in the state ofTamil Nadu. The opposing junior lawyer wasP. Chidambaram, who later became theFinance Minister of India. He appeared on behalf of Dr. A. Peeriakaruppan s/o Dr. P. R. Annamalai MD and the Chief Justice Hegde gave the verdict on 15 January 1971 in favor of the aspiring Medical Student Periakaruppan and the State of Tamil Nadu lost its Case. This is a landmark decision, that gave more weightage for the merit rather than other influences.[clarification needed]
Venugopal was the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (1990–91, 1994-95 and 1999-2000). He was President of theUnion Internationale des Avocats (UIA - International Association of Lawyers) from 1996 to 1997.
Venugopal has appeared in many high-profile cases. He was appointed by theRoyal Government of Bhutan to serve as the Constitutional adviser for drafting of theConstitution of Bhutan.[11][12] He has advised the then President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, on the devolution of powers on the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka (2004). On 30 June 2017, he was appointed as theAttorney General of India under the leadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. He succeeded Mukul Rohatgi, who stepped down after the first term. Venugopal held the office ofAdditional Solicitor General inMorarji Desai’s Government. He has appeared in a variety of cases in the last 50 years. Venugopal was appointed asamicus curiae to assist the Supreme Court in the high profile2G spectrum case.
He appeared for the BJP leaderL. K. Advani in theDemolition of the Babri Masjid case.[13]
Other well-known lawyers have been trained under his tutelage.[14]
In 2015, he was conferredPadma Vibhushan award by theGovernment of India. This is the second-highest civilian honour in India. In 2002, he was awardedPadma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour. He was awarded the Vidhi Ratna in 2023 by the Bar Council of India for his outstanding contribution to the Legal Profession. He received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the US-India Business Council in 2012.[15]
He was conferred the Honoris Causa Degree of Doctor of Laws by (1) the Utkal University, Orissa, in 2010; (2) by the Chanakya National Law University, Patna, in 2018; and (3) by the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, in 2019.
Venugopal is one of the main advocates for judicial reforms in India.[citation needed] He is against the creation of regional benches of theSupreme Court of India. Instead, he recommends that Courts of Appeal be established in the four regions of the country, who finally decide on appeals from the High Court judgments in all cases other than cases of national importance which affect the whole country, disputes between States or between States and the Centre,Presidential references and substantial questions of law relating to interpretation of the Constitution. This will relieve the burden on the Supreme Court.[16]
