NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who assumed office as the Solicitor- General on Monday night, said that he was looking forward to working very closely with Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati.
Speaking to Express, he said that both he and Vahanvati were deeply committed to progress and reform. “I sincerely hope that we will, with the cooperation of the government, make it possible and make the future as bright as we can.” The honour has not been bestowed on me as an individual but is in a true sense a tribute to the Supreme Court which conferred upon me the distinction of being a senior advocate, he said.
Born on July 17, 1958, Subramanium did his BA (Hons) and LLB. He joined the chambers of Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General, in 1980. He was appointed Standing Counsel for the Union of India in the Supreme Court in 1983, and Senior Panel Advocate for Uttar Pradesh in the same year. He was counsel for the Justice Verma Commission of Inquiry which looked into the security lapses leading to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
He was designated Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court on December 13, 1993 and handled numerous sensitive and high voltage cases successfully. He was appointed Special Public Prosecutor both in the High Court and in the Supreme Court to conduct the Parliament attack case.
He was appointed Additional Solicitor- General of India on August 4, 2005, a post he relinquished recently after the new UPA Government assumed office.
Subramanium is honorary director of the National Heart Foundation and member, governing council, Indian Law Institute. He is also adviser, National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi.
Subramanium is married to Geeta and they have two children, a daughter Gauri and a son Giriraj.