A conversation over a cup of coffee at the Supreme Court cafeteria with some his chamber devils would offer a million insights as to how he mentored and nurtured them, embraced them, and led them by example. A slip of the tongue comment on his ‘occasional’ dreary argumentative style would invite fierce responses, and one would be surprised by the loyalty he inspires. It is quite an achievement in a single lifetime to be a leader of the Bar, both inside the courtroom and beyond. KKV was the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association on multiple occasions, President of the Bar Association of India and several international lawyers’ organisations, names of which I can neither recollect nor pronounce. To top it all, is his unrivalled record of being the only nonagenarian Attorney General for India in Commonwealth history.
Far more remarkable is the consistency and rate at which he nurtured legal talents over three quarters of a century. One need not look far to identify several distinguished senior counsel and judges on this list – MN Krishnamani, P Chidambaram, CS Vaidyanathan, PR Kumaramangalam, D Murugesan, M Krishnappan, RF Nariman, Parag P Tripathi, Jaideep Gupta, KV Vishwanathan, Krishnan Venugopal, Guru Krishnakumar and Gopal Sankaranarayanan (any omission or discrepancy in the order of seniority is unintentional). This is not to belittle or ignore the dozens of other talented lawyers who have devilled in KKV’s chambers. Enlisting them all would elongate this piece to the point of exhaustion!
The phrase ‘stables’ is often employed to describe a senior advocate’s chamber in the legal profession – a term that perhaps, unfortunately, evokes the masculine imagery of a ‘stud farm.’ But KKV’s chambers did well to undo that image as well. In his seventh decade of practice, three women from his chambers – Haripriya Padmanabhan, Liz Mathew and Uttara Babbar – were designated as senior advocates by the Supreme Court – a record that I am sure KKV is proud of, and perhaps one that will remain unbroken for many years to come. Adding to the consistent inflow of exceptional advocates to the bar, the diversity of his chambers is also noteworthy. KKV’s chambers have, over the years, found room for all sorts of legal animals – the bright, the witty, the mundane, the saintly and the occasionally tipsy.
Source: Barandbench
