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Gopal Subramanium (born 1958), is an Indian lawyer and Senior Advocate who practices primarily in the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court. He also served as the Solicitor General of India from 2009-2011.

Early life & Education
Gopal Subramanium was born on 30th July 1958 in Bangalore. After having studied Commerce, Gopal Subramanium delved into literature and found that it gave him a new world in which individual expression, social character and above all free-flowing philosophy could be merged.

According to Gopal Subramanium, Literature reflected society. He realised soon that to make and render creative work, an understanding of human emotions is critical and would require both an understanding of tradition and modernity. He was influenced by T.S. Elliott and Somerset Maughan, in fact, but for his promise to his mother of fulfilling his father’s dream of he being a lawyer, he was set to pursue a career in learning and teaching literature.

The images in the Return of the Native moved Gopal Subramanium and to him the written world almost became the real world. He was also influenced by Russell and Radhakrishnan. Later he came to know that the books by these writers in his home were the favourites of Dr. Bijen Mukherjea. When he entered the profession of law, Gopal Subramanium found law dull and dreary but keeping his father’s promise, he weathered the early years of practice. He has often told his juniors that literature was perhaps closest to psychology and the understanding of human behaviour.

Legal Career
Gopal Subramanium commenced his career with Shardul S. Shroff, who in 1980, established the law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co in Delhi. He appeared as counsel for the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, often traveling to these states for hearings. He subsequently worked under D. P. Wadhwa, who went on to become a judge of the Supreme Court of India and later under Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India.

In 1993, only 35 years old, Mr. Subramanium was designated a Senior Advocate (the equivalent of a Queen's Counsel in the UK) suo motu by the Supreme Court. He became one of the youngest lawyers to be designated in the Supreme Court's history. During his tenure as a Law Officer, Mr. Subramanium was honoured with the National Law Day Award for his outstanding contribution to jurisprudence and litigation. The award was presented to him in 2009 by the President of India.

During 2009 to 2010, when Mr. Subramanium was Chairman of the Bar Council of India, he took significant steps to reform the legal profession. One of his most remarkable achievements was the introduction of the All India Bar Examination, a step that revolutionized the manner of admission into law schools in India. Mr. Subramanium has also been appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the Court) in several matters. Mr. Subramanium was nominated to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of India, which he declined because of undue executive interference, displaying a high degree of independence and rectitude. In April 2015 Mr. Subramanium was appointed a judge of the Qatar International Court. He is also an associate Member of 3VB Chambers, London.

Multidisciplinary Approach To law
His background in literature and interest in psychology allows him to form an interdisciplinary approach towards legal cases. He richly borrows from his favourite authors Dennett and Dawkins to construct and dismantle freely the Multifaceted Implications of Law. In this context it is important to take note of Mr Subramanium’s detailed work in the Sheila Barse Report which highlighted the plight of the mentally ill in the state of Assam. This report looked beyond the confines of statutory law and reasoned strongly that the State should setup infrastructure for specialised learning in psychiatry so as to understand the needs of the mentally ill. This report was submitted to the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the landmark judgement of Sheila Barse vs Union of India. The report ultimately paved way for the establishment of the Tezpur Mental Hospital. His early tragedy of having lost his father very suddenly and his exposure to a series of non-forensic subjects perhaps explain his multidisciplinary interest in law.

As A lawyer

 * Acted as counsel (in 1991 - 1992) to a judicial commission headed by Justice J. S. Verma (then a judge of the Supreme Court) to inquire into security lapses leading to the assassination of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India.


 * Acted (in 1993) as "prosecuting counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)" in the historical trial of the accused in the serial Bombay blasts which took place on 12th March 1993. An act of terror that took the lives of 257 persons. He acted as CBI's counsel in this matter till 2012 when appeals in this trial were finally heard by the Supreme Court.


 * Acting as a special commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court in 1994-1995 to investigate allegations of wrongful detention of persons in mental hospitals in the State of Assam.


 * In 2001, he was appointed as counsel to a judicial commission headed by Justice K. Venkataswamy (a former Supreme Court judge), to inquire into sting operations carried out by a news publication to expose corruption in defense procurement transactions.


 * Mr. Subramanium acted as the Special Public Prosecutor in the prosecution of the accused in the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.


 * Between 2005 and 2009 he held the office of Additional Solicitor General of India and subsequently served as the Solicitor General of India from 2009-2011. During his tenure as Solicitor General, he also served as the Chairman of the Bar Council of India.

Solicitor General of India
Gopal Subramanium served as the Solicitor General of India from 2009-2011. He was preceded by Goolam Essaji Vahanvati and succeeded by Rohinton Fali Nariman. Mr. Subramanium resigned in protest of the government's decision to field a private lawyer, Rohinton Fali Nariman, in a telecommunications case before the Supreme Court. On 27 July 2011, the Ministry of Law and Justice, appointed Rohinton Fali Nariman, the son of jurist Fali Nariman as the Solicitor General of India. Subramanium stated he would never again take the job of the Solicitor General, since by convention, such an appointment had previously never been made. Incidentally, on 13 December 1993, both Subramanium and Nariman were designated senior advocates by former Chief Justice of India M. N. Venkatachaliah.

Chairman of Bar Council of India
Gopal Subramaniam served as chairman of the Bar Council of India while also serving as the Solicitor General from 2010-2011. He was preceded by Shri Suraj Narain Prasad Sinha and succeeded by Shri Ashok Parija. He is credited towards the introduction of All India Bar Examination, a mandatory test for law graduates to be eligible to practice in India.

Land Mark cases
As a senior law officer of the Government of India, Mr. Subramanium represented the Government, as lead counsel, in a wide range of

matters involving complex questions of constitutional and criminal law.


 * Acted as the Special Public Prosecutor in the prosecution of Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving terrorist who carried out attacks on Mumbai in November 2008. A case demonstrating the Indian judiciary’s commitment to due process and fair trial.


 * Acting as lead counsel for the Union of India in the matter of Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. The Union of India, wherein he defended state-sponsored reservations for Other Backward Classes of persons in India.


 * Acting as lead counsel for the Government of India in 2010-2011 in litigation concerning irregularities in allocation of 2G radio-spectrum bandwidth to various private telecom operators.


 * Acting as lead counsel for the Union of India in 2006 in the matter of Raja Ram Pal v. Speaker, where he successfully defended a contempt of privilege action taken by the Speaker of Parliament against certain members of the assembly, who were found guilty of raising questions in Parliament for illegal monetary gratification.


 * Acting as amicus curiae to the Supreme Court in 2011 in the matter of Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. The Union of India, where he presented a report on the empirical realities of trafficking of children in India. Subsequent to the filing of the report he further assisted the Supreme Court in framing guidelines to deal with the menace of trafficking.


 * Subramanium also represented the government in important cases such as the challenge to OBC quota in central educational institutions and also defended the sealing of commercial buildings in residential areas in the capital city of New Delhi.


 * He has assisted the Supreme Court as Amicus curiae in many cases including in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.


 * Along with T. R. Andhyarujina, he represented Novartis in the case Novartis v. Union of India & Others concerning evergreening of patents, a case which Novartis India managing director Ranjit Shahani described as "a setback for patients that will hinder medical progress for diseases without effective treatment options."


 * Mr. Subramanium has also appeared in several landmark cases concerning the law of arbitration in India, including the BALCO. case, where the Supreme Court of India ruled on the applicability of Part I of the Indian Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996, to arbitrations held in a foreign seat, and awards arising therefrom. He also appeared in Sundaram Finance (1999) (in respect of a court's powers to grant interim protection to parties pending arbitration). He has appeared in a number of matters in the Supreme Court and various High Court concerning the arbitrability of disputes, appointment of arbitrators and challenge to arbitral awards including those arising out of defense contracts, EPC contracts and infrastructure contracts. http://sci.nic.in/outtoday/ac701905p.pdf

Mental Health Act, 1987
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the treatment and care of mentally ill persons, to make better provision with respect to their property and affairs and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

This Act shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different States and for different provisions of this Act, and any reference in any provision to the commencement of this Act in a State shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision in that state.

Further, as a commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court in Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 237 of 1989, Sheila Barse vs. Union of India submitted a detailed report on the conditions of prisoners suffering from mental disabilities in jails in Assam. The report focused on the rehabilitation of non-criminal mentally ill patients in Assam as well as payment of compensation for the violation of their fundamental rights.

Need for Transformative Gender and Equality law
Need for Transformative Gender and Equality Law - the other side of Justice Verma Committee Report by Gopal Subramanium (author is former Solicitor General of India and member of the Justice JS Verma Committee)

The Verma Committee Report was an attempt to move India towards a more transformative gender law. The Committee's report was historic as it attempted to democratize the legal regime to include marginalized identities. The Verma Committee was conscious of approaching gender justice through a historical and sociological perspective.

Great stress was put on understanding how the State is to recognise and thereby define gender. It was recognized that the formal equality legal regime is completely insufficient to protect identities that include transsexuals and men with different sexual orientation. Indeed, gender outlaws are individuals who break social expectations about how to exist as a man or a woman. The Verma Committee felt that the law necessarily had to cover all those who may have assigned characteristics or designated characteristics – feminine or masculine.

The committee also made the argument that on the basis of years of stereotyped thinking institutions today were predisposed into avoiding or confronting major issues relating to gender justice and gender equality. In the committee’s view, the formal equality regime is of little consequence unless and until the constitutional recognition of individual capability contained in Article 21 is addressed in context to group membership and is seen as a part of larger constitutional goals such as fraternity and equality.

Further, the Committee recognized the pressing need to understand and accept different sexual orientations as a human reality. The committee identified the transgender community and alternate sexualities to fall within the meaning of the word “sex” as mentioned in Article 15(c) of the constitution, recognizing the Right to be Different. This view was reflected in the case of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India & Ors. , wherein a bench comprising of Justice K.S.Radhakrishnan and Justice A.K.Sikri granted legal recognition to trans genders as “ third gender”, directing the Central Government to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes in the context of quotas in admission to educational institutions and public appointments. The Committee observed that “it is the duty of the State to provide clear, well informed and scientifically grounded sexuality education based on the universal values of respect for human rights.” The Committee stressed on the need to provide children with access to non-prejudiced sources on sexuality without enforcing gender stereotypes.

The Committee noted that discrimination which is practiced and from which women must be protected is not only in the context of discrimination by the State and its agencies but must include discriminatory practices adopted by members of Indian society. Eventually, the State must address the issue of social reform so as to create a social justice paradigm where a person belonging to any gender can pursue his/her potentialities.

Women Safety Act
In 2013, Mr. Subramanium acted as a member of a Committee to Recommend Amendments to Criminal Laws (headed by Justice J. S. Verma), which recommended much-needed amendments to various Indian laws to ensure the safety and dignity of women and young children.

The past three decades, despite the spate of legislations concerning the protection of women, has contributed little in fostering respect for women in the society. The Committee recognized the importance of our political and justice institutions to be able to equally recognize and appreciate persons for their varying gender identities. While the legislation or the special provisions in the law may have been able to ‘protect’ women, they by themselves have not been able to stitch together a society that respects gender and encourages equal participation of women.

The shift of emphasis from welfare to empowerment i.e. creating enabling mechanisms that would empower women to take control of their own lives can only succeed with the change of mind-set of society at large. We have certainly realized that larger doses of welfare and service delivery have not altered women's status and that women need to be given the (secured) space and the opportunity to realize their full potential. There is an evident accent on providing the right environment, stimulus, a collective identity and tools to gain access to knowledge, skills and management structures that would achieve the goal of gender equality and prevent violence against women.

The Verma Committee went through voluminous literature including socio-biological theories of rape. The Committee believed that while evolutionary psychology may have its own insights, there was a need to for a multi-disciplinary approach. Obviously, identification of psychological deviations and their treatment must commence early, and therefore, these aspects have to be sewed into the educational curriculum at all levels.

All India Bar Examination
Gopal Subramanium is credited with introducing the All India Bar Examination, a mandatory test for law graduates to be eligible to practice in India. The Chairman of the Bar Council of India has said that the first All India Bar Examination was scheduled in March 2011 to ensure that law graduates across the country had an equal and fair opportunity to give the exam. If the exam had been scheduled for December, it would have provided students from those colleges which release their results early, with an undue advantage, he said.

Other Activities
Mr. Subramanium's arbitration experience includes appearing as lead counsel for Indian companies in ICC and domestic arbitrations. In addition, Mr. Subramanium also deposes as an expert witness on Indian law in SIAC and other international commercial arbitrations. He has also served as a member of the arbitral tribunal presided over by Justice R.S. Pathak, former Chief Justice of India and Judge, International Court of Justice in arbitration between Transammonia AG and MMTC Limited.

Awards and Honours
In 2009, During his tenure as a law officer, Subramanium was honoured with the National Law Day Award for being an Outstanding Jurist. This reward was a result of his consistent professional excellence and adherence to the highest traditions of the Bar.

Mr. Subramanium appeared on behalf of the Union of India in several landmark cases. In the Supreme Court, he successfully defended the interests of the State in the Gas Dispute between Reliance India Ltd. and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. He also judiciously reckoned his calibre at the high-profile Jessica Lall Murder case, as a Special Public Prosecutor. He remained conciliatory towards the strategic angles of the case as it involved the Indian National Congress. He was instrumental in conducting "National Consultation for Strengthening the Judiciary towards Reducing Pendency and Delays" and facilitated the incorporation of a Special Purpose vehicle, "Society for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reform".

Subramanium was a visiting professor at the University of Delhi and was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Law (in 2013) by the Central University of Orissa, Koraput for his contributions to the development of law in India. He is also an associate member of the prestigious, 3 Verulam Buildings barristers' chamber of London. Senior counsel and noted jurist, Fali Nariman described Subramanium as a very competent advocate and lauded the introduction of bar exams, an initiative undertaken by Subramanium.

Books
Mr. Subramanium has contributed immensely to significant academic works which include books and treatises such as “Restatement of Indian Law on Contempt of Courts”, and “Writs and Remedies” in The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution. Subramanium is widely respected by the members of the Bar and the bench for his knowledge and skills and equally revered by junior members of the Bar for his humility and professional ethics.

Further, Mr. Subramanium has edited, "Supreme But Not Infallible: Essays in Honour of the Supreme Court of India", a comprehensive work on the evaluation of the working of the Supreme Court of India, published in 2004 by the Oxford University Press.

Books and Lecture transcripts

 * Constitutional Governance, its Imperative and Science and Democracy by Gopal Subramanium (14 September 2013), at O.P. Jindal Global University.


 * Effectiveness and Limitations of the Judicial System by Gopal Subramanium at Dr. Ambedkar Lecture 2012-2013 at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.


 * Modern Approaches to Constitutional Governance by Gopal Subramanium.


 * Law,Terrorism and Human Rights by Gopal Subramanium (5 May 2013) at Town Hall, Kolkata.


 * “Restatement of Indian Law on Contempt of Courts” by Gopal Subramanium and K. K. Venugopal, CCH - A Wolters Kluwer Business publisher, 2011. ISBN – 13: 9788184736045


 * “Supreme but Not Infallible” edited by Gopal Subramanium, OUP India Publisher(31 May 2001), ISBN-10: 0195653793, ISBN-13: 978-0195653793

Personal Life
Mr Gopal Subramanium is married to Geetha Subramanium. The Couple have two children named Gauri and Giriraj.