Constitutional amendments require a nod of approval from both the houses of the parliament. After this, ratification by the State Governments and a presidential consent are required. A recent instance of the exercise having been undertaken is the one for the GST Bill to become an Act. The whole exercise can also be contested in courts. This is where a renowned lawyer such as K K Venugopal comes into the picture. He is known to be one of the most prominent constitutional lawyers in the country.
5 decades of career: Dedicated to working for the Government
He was born in the pre-independence era, in 1931. He took office as the Additional Solicitor General during the emergency period. He started working at the age of 20 and 25 years later, in 1976, during the Government imposed emergency he found himself to be the Additional Solicitor General, seated at the power centre in Delhi. His name commands easy money with ranging from2 to3 Lakhs for just a 5 minute appearance in the courts.
Venugopal & Mandal Commission: Reservation Matters
Fourteen years later, in 1990, he was an integral part of the moves being made to bring peace to the country reeling under the mass movement proportions the agitation against the Mandal Commission had acquired. The case went to the Supreme Court. The expected ruling from the court in order to reduce the tension among the opposite groups was to give a stay on the Office Memorandum that would make it possible for the reservation granted to come to fruition.
Ensured a stay
The Supreme Court did grant a stay and Mr. K K Venugopal is said to be instrumental in bringing the case to a stage that the Memorandum could not be further pursued or processed. A renowned lawyer who can thus help in ensuring that peace prevails across the country and the parties involved can buy time for resolution of the issue can be seen as the one who won’t pass the buck when it comes to issues of importance. Read, politician cum lawyer Arun Jaitley.
President’s Rule
His services were used by the revered politician Mr. M.K Karunanidhi to file a petition against President’s rule in Tamil Nadu. In 1976, the first writ petition was filed in the Madras High Court. The second writ petition was filed in Delhi. Tamil Nadu Government in 1976 was dismissed and President’s rule was imposed despite Karunanidhi enjoying majority support in Delhi. That is where his services for the state Government came into focus.
He is one renowned lawyer whose office can be seen as the so-called ‘one stop solution’ for ensuring that any issue related to State or Central Government or a constitutional amendment for that matter. The Tamil Nadu Government was dismissed despite the Governor having stated that the Government in the state did have the numbers for proving majority in the assembly. However, the very basic attempt at allowing a Govt. to prove its majority was bypassed.
Beyond the Courts: Adventure Sports, Antiques & Charity
Renowned lawyer K K Venugopal is said to be a kind of person whose personality has more to it than just being a lawyer. He is into collecting antiques – his most prized possession being the ‘Sword of Emperor Aurangazeb’. He further adds that he is into water sports, with snorkelling being what he has enjoyed over the years, with Carribean being one of the places where he has been to for the stated activity.
Trekking
Listing out the adventure sports that he enjoys beyond snorkelling, it is trekking to the Mansarovar and the forests of the Silent Valley that would find a mention. He is also a person known to have given charity enough space and importance in his life with higher education and medical facilities for tribal children occupying the top spots in his priority list.
You might also like to read career story of Soli Sorabjee.
