 |
M. N. Krishnamani | |
|---|---|
 M N Krishnamani at a SCBA function | |
| Former President of Supreme Court Bar Association of India | |
M.N.Krishnamani (Maharajapuram Natarajan Krishnamani; 26 April 1948 - 15 February 2017 [1] ) was a senior counsel practicing at the Supreme Court of India and a former president of Supreme Court Bar Association of India. [2] [3]
Maharajapuram Natarajan Krishnamani had his education in Ramakrishna Mission boy's High School, Vaishnav College, Presidency College and Law College, Madras. Under his father's influence, he evinced interest in spirituality from childhood. Even while studying in 9th standard when he was less than 14 years, he used to give musical discourses in Madras at various places on may spiritual topics. All the boys who played musical instruments for him were his class-mates. He was appreciated by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 3 March 1963 when The latter saw him giving a musical discourse on the life story of Swami Vivekananda during Swami Vivekananda's Centenary Celebrations. In all school functions, he used to do mimicry. He did his pre-university course from Vaishnava College, Madras. He did BSc in geology from the Presidency College, Madras and then Law from Madras Law College, Madras.
He was enrolled as a lawyer in 1971, in Madras. He worked as a junior of Late Sri. M.K. Nambiyar and Sri. K.K. Venugopal (Sri. Nambiyar's son who is a doyen of the Supreme Court Bar, today) between 1971 and 1977. In 1977 he set up his practice as an independent lawyer. He started his practice in the Madras High Court and had wide range of work in different fields of law and was prominent as a young lawyer from 1971 to 1981 in Madras (now Chennai). He specialised in Writ Jurisdiction and was known as : "Writ a day lawyer" since he was appearing in at least one Writ Petition a day. In 1981 he shifted his practice to Delhi to practice in the Supreme Court of India. He appeared in several important cases which were widely reported in law reports and in the Media as well. [4]
He has appeared in almost all the High Courts located in different States in India. He has appeared for Union of India, different State Governments, Statutory Authorities and Nationalized Banks before the Supreme Court of India. He appeared before Justice Verma Commission and Justice Jain Commission in re Rajiv Gandhi's assassination on behalf of certain leaders of the Congress Party. He appeared for Tamil Nadu Govt, before Justice Nag Commission and Justice Devendra Gupta Commission in connection with the Ban on LTTE. He was also the Senior Standing Counsel for Delhi Development Authority. He has been regularly appearing as Senior Advocate for the Bar Council of India before the Supreme Court of India. He also appeared in Ram Janma Bhoomi case in Allahabad High Court's Full Bench on behalf of the Hindus. It is after hearing him in Full Bench decided to take on record the ACI's report on excavations in the disputed spot which was the turning point in the case. He also appeared in Ram Sethu matter on behalf of the Hindus. It was during his arguments a turning point came in the said case also. The court directed the Union of India to find out whether any way to Sri Lanka could be found without breaking the Ram Sethu. After this a committee of experts appointed by UOI has submitted in report to the effect that the way which has to be made by breaking Ram Sethu was not in feasible one and that another route which does not interfere with the Sethu was the only feasible way. The matter is still pending in Supreme Court.
He had a brief political career during 1969–1975. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1969. He became the General Secretary of Law College Student Congress in the Madras Law College. Later he became the vice-president of Youth Congress in Madras. During this period, he was a Trade Union Leader as well. Rangarajan Kumaramangalam and Krishnamani organised the Hotel Employees for this first time and were running the Hotel Employees Union successfully. In 1975 he left politics and plunged into spirituality, education and social work, besides continuing in Legal Profession having active practice in different branches of Law.
He was four times vice-president at the Supreme Court, four times, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association and President of Delhi Tamil Sangam several times, representing over 1.2 million Tamils in Delhi. He is one of the founder members of Veda Parishad. he is the General Secretary of Sanaatan Sangeet Sanskriti and the Treasurer of Sardar Patel Society. He is connected with several cultural, spiritual and social organisations in Delhi. He was the President of Delhi Tamil Education Association running 7 schools in the capital of India, with over 1000 students in each of these schools. He was a Visiting Faculty in the School of Planning and Architecture (a Deemed university) taking classes for Post Graduate students in building law, contract law, Mercantile Law and Ethics of an Architect. He was a member of the Governing Council of National Law School. Bangalore for 3 years till 2006. He was the Member of the Governing Body of Bopal Law School for three years.
He received the "National Law Day Award" for Excellence in Civil Law in 1998. He was given the prestigious "Seva-Ratna Award" by the Centenarian Trust in 2005. He was given "Secular India Harmony Award" in 2005. He was awarded "Sreshta Kala Pracharak Award" by Ganesh Natyalaya and Gayatri Fine Arts Society in 2009. He was awarded Padma Shri in the field of Public Affairs by Government of India in the year 2016. [5]
In 2011 recognising his contribution in the field of law, the North Orissa University, Baripada, Orissa, conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) on him. In this document conferring the Doctorate on Mr. Krishnamani, it is mentioned inter alia as follows : Your brief stint in politics during your student days and trade unionism came to befitting end when you came under the influence of the noble saint Sri Navajata of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicheery, After that encounter, you devoted all your time and energy to spiritualism and social uplift though remaining a lawyer of repute. It goes without saying that you have successfully appeared in several cases in the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts. A lawyer with a human face championing the cause of the common people by delivering justice at their doorstep, you have had an indisputable trace record as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in addition to holding several other important portfolios. Sir, you are a perfect combination of a wise head and a weeping heart that uses knowledge noit for pedantry or pecuniary benefits but for empathising with those brethren of ours who do have a cause but do not have the wherewithal to approach a court of law. This has made you the proud winner of National Law Day Award, Seva Ratna Award, Secular India Harmony Award besides several other recognition and decorations. This has also endeared you to spiritual, educational and cultural organisations in India.
His books "Bhajgovindam" and "Godlymen and their Golden Words" are published by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan Education Ministry of Union of India. His other books include "Shankara-the Revolutionary", "Essence of Gita" "Aryan-Dravidian Myth", "From Doubt to Certainty", "Premopanishad", "Sai on Himself " and "How can you miss the omnipresent" and "Glory of Kanchi Mutt". His three other books viz "Autobiography of an Avtara", "Religious Freedom", and "Quintessenceof Hinduism" are under print. He is also a composer with 45 poems at his credit. Mr. Krishnamani has been writing erudite articles consistently in Bhavans Journal published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan (so far over 70 of his articles have been published in Bhavan Journal).
His son, Anirudh Sainath was an artist with many paintings to his credit (https://molee.devianrt.com/). [6] [7] [8] His three daughters are lawyers. They are married to software engineers working in leading multinational companies. His wife Radha was a Bharata Natyam dancer and a good bhajan singer. She was a great devotee of Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. She died on 9 October 2007.
Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna Iyer was an Indian judge who became a pioneer of judicial activism. He pioneered the legal-aid movement in the country. Before that, he was a state minister and politician.
Ram Boolchand Jethmalani was an Indian lawyer and politician. He served as India's Union Minister of Law and Justice, as chairman of the Indian Bar Council, and as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
National Law School of India University (NLSIU), or simply the National Law School(NLS), is a public law school and a state university in Bangalore, India. The school is one of the leading law schools in India, consistently ranked #1 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework for law.
Maharajapuram Santhanam, was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989.
Kottayan Katankot Venugopal is an Indian constitutional lawyer and a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India. He was enrolled as an advocate on 27 January 1954. On 1 July 2017, he was appointed as the Attorney General of India and retired on 30 September 2022. He is Patron of SAARCLAW and earlier has been its President. He is founder of M K Nambyar SAARCLAW Centre For Advanced Legal Studies at the NALSAR University of Law.
Pakala Venkataramana Rao Rajamannar (1901–1979) was an Indian judge and politician who served as the acting Governor of Madras State from 1957 to 1958. P.V. Rajamannar was the first Indian to become Chief Justice of Madras High Court after independence from 1948 to 1961. He was also the first Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi in New Delhi.
Fali Sam Nariman was an Indian jurist. He was a senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India from 1971 and was the President of the Bar Association of India from 1991 to 2010. Nariman was an internationally recognised jurist on international arbitration and was also noted for his impact on constitutional jurisprudence in India. He was honoured with the 19th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration in 2018. He was one of India's most distinguished constitutional lawyers and argued several leading cases. He was the Additional Solicitor General of India from May 1972 to June 1975.
Gopal Subramanium is an Indian lawyer, international arbitrator, academic and Senior Advocate who practices primarily in the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. He served as the Solicitor General of India 2009–2011 and Additional Solicitor General of India 2005–2009. He served as Chairman of the Bar Council of India 2010–2011.
Pavani Parameswara Rao was a Senior Advocate practising in the Supreme Court of India. Widely considered a doyen of Constitutional Law, he had argued a number of landmark cases before the Supreme Court. He died on 13 September 2017 in a private hospital in South Delhi following a cardiac arrest, India.
Paul Daniel Dinakaran Premkumar served as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. He resigned from the post following allegations of corruption and subsequent removal proceedings.
M. Jagannadha Rao was an Indian judge who was Chief Justice of Kerala High Court and Delhi High Court. He also sat on the Supreme Court of India.
Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India; he retired on 16 June 2023. He is former chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. Before his appointment as chief justice of the High Court of Uttarakhand on 31 July 2014, he had served as a judge of the Kerala High Court for more than nine years.
Arjan Kumar Sikri is an eminent jurist and a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on 12 April 2013. Earlier, he had served as the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He retired as senior most puisne judge of Supreme Court of India on 6 March 2019.
Sunderlal Trikamlal Desai was the 1st Chief Justice of Gujarat, serving from 1 May 1960 until his retirement on 25 January 1961. He later practiced as senior counsel in the Supreme Court of India till 1988. In 1968, he was appointed Treasurer for the Indian Commission of Jurists, a member of the International Commission of Jurists where he was instrumental in submitting the report on Right to Freedom of Movement before the ICJ.
Guna Vasantha Pai was a Senior Advocate of the Madras High Court and Indian Supreme Court, a freedom fighter, activist and a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (MLC). He is best known for filing one of the first public interest litigations against the then sitting Chief Justice of the Madras High court S. Ramachandra Iyer after Pai found evidence that the judge had forged his date of birth to avoid compulsory retirement at the age of 60 and the judge's younger brother sent invitations to celebrate his 60th birthday. This led the then Chief Justice of India P. B. Gajendragadkar to ask Ramachandra Iyer to resign as the case would severely damage the judiciary and he resigned before the case came up for hearing. This led the case to be dismissed as he had resigned. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council and he refused to take oath from the then pro-tem chairman, Abdul Wahab as he had advocated secession and swore himself as a legislator. His oath was upheld by the Madras High Court.
Ramalingam Sudhakar is an Indian Judge. He is former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court. He is also former Acting Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court and Judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court and Madras High Court. He was born on 14 February 1959 and hails from Panapakkam Village, Vellore District in Tamil Nadu. He was overlooked and V. Ramasubramanian was chosen over him as a Supreme Court Judge. The Central Government has approved the appointment of former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar as the president of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for a period of five years in October 28, 2021. Justice Sudhakar has been appointed for a period of five years from the date of appointment or till he attains the age of 67 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Darmar Murugesan is a former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. He has occupied many key posts in the Judiciary of India. He was elevated as a Judge of the Madras High Court from the Bar. He had formerly occupied the post of Member National Human Rights Commission of India.
The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is one of the oldest high courts of India along with Calcutta High Court in Kolkata and Bombay High Court in Mumbai. The Madras High Court is one of four charter high courts of colonial India established in the four Presidency Towns of Madras, Bombay, Allahabad and Calcutta by letters patent granted by Queen Victoria, dated 26 June 1862. It exercises original jurisdiction over the city of Chennai, as well as extraordinary original jurisdiction, civil and criminal, under the letters patent and special original jurisdiction for the issue of writs under the Constitution of India. Covering 107 acres, the court complex is one of the largest in the world, second only to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The four-storey administrative building attracts hundreds of litigants every day.
R. Mahadevan is a Judge of Supreme Court of India. He is the former Judge of Madras High Court where he has also served as the Acting Chief Justice.