Depending on the métier under consideration, it is only the biggest of names that make it to the papers and those are the ones the man on the street is aware of. When it comes to lawyers, there is a certain aura attached to those who are the highest paid lawyers in the country. It is invariably the corporate lawyers but at times also criminal case lawyers that make headlines and find appreciation among people. People voraciously take in stories about per minute or per hour fee for availing their services. Also, a quick back of the hand calculation or an attempt to arrive at a ballpark figure is often an observed activity when one reads about the kind of fee these lawyers command. It is invariably the lawyer-politicians that remain in the public eye as spokespersons in the print media or one of the discussants on News channels. Mr. K Parasaran is one such lawyer. We thought of sharing his story with law aspirants. His alma mater is Presidency College, Chennai.
Positions Held
In Tamil Nadu, he was chosen to represent the Government as Advocate General. This was when the state was under the President’s rule. He found favour with the Congress establishment and the Gandhis to find himself chosen as the Attorney General of India when the Congress Government was being led by either of Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi. This period of prominence in representing the Government in Supreme Court lasted for decades. Mr. Parasaran thus straddled the corridors of powers with considerable ease wherein he was more than welcome and also found himself in a position where the party in power and he as the Govt. representative would see eye to eye.
That one aspect of personality that is found to stand out in lawyers who have achieved considerable success is an ethical demeanour. Even lawyers fighting a case against him know that if he is on a case, ethics is what his case would be grounded on. In courts, citations form an important part of your argument. Prominent lawyers are known to have cited instances or codes in law that allow for the accused to escape through loopholes or to prove their innocence. A case fought by him was literally like a case study for students and assistants, owing to the kind of case and the citations.
Anecdotes
For every lawyer it is only expected that a particular case is seen as the turning point in his career. For Mr. Parasaran, that case happens to be the one involving post-manufacturing expenses. He is said to be the one who managed to ensure that despite the Government having lost in many High Courts is eventually able to prove its case in the Supreme Court. This case was won in the Supreme Court after the Government having lost the case in 10 lower courts across India. It was only in three courts was the Govt. able to put across its case to an eventual win.
The case was won in the lower courts of W. Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Later on too, a bench comprising of judges from these courts were the ones the case was presented before and an eventual win in the Supreme Court was snatched from the jaws of an inevitable and likely defeat.
Lawyers who move through the corridors of power with ease need not just be confined to the Government when it comes to the people seeking counsel. These happen to be the ones who have had a wide range of experience in handling all kinds of cases that the Government finds itself mired in. The same holds true for Mr. Parasaran.
You may like to read career stories of few other lawyers – Soli Sorabjee
Hope you found the above inspiring. Do share your thoughts in the comments below.
