CHENNAI: Among the 13 distinguished Indians named for the 2011 Padma Vibhushan award is 83-year-old legal luminary K Parasaran, who hails from Chennai. A former Attorney General of India, Parasaran was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2003.
Coming from a family of advocates — his father Kesava Iyengar and son Mohan Parasaran are also lawyers — Parasaran had appeared in several high profile cases. He had argued against the Sethusamudram project and in a case filed by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 1996, challenging the decision of then Governor Chenna Reddy granting permission for her prosecution. Parasaran was pitted against his son, who was then the advisor to the Governor, in court.
Born on October 9, 1927, Parasaran passed his SSLC from Hindu High School, did his graduation from Presidency College and went to the Madras Law College. He had been awarded Shri Justice C V Kumaraswami Sastri Sanskrit Medal in BA and Justice Shri V Bhashyam Iyengar Gold Medal in Hindu Law in BL. He was also the recipient of Justice Shri K S Krishnaswami Iyengar Medal in the Bar Council examination.
He enrolled in the Supreme Court in 1958 and was appointed the Central Government Senior Standing Counsel in the Madras High Court in 1971. In 1976, he was appointed Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu, but he resigned a year later. He was the Solicitor General of India from 1980 to 1983 and Attorney General from 1983 to 1989.
He was the president, Bar Association of India from 1984 to 1987, led the Indian delegation visiting New York in March 1984 to present India’s report before the UN Human Rights Committee, and headed the Indian team settling the dispute between India and the Union Carbide. He was also a member of the National Commission for Review of the Working of the Constitution.