India's top 10 lawyers: TOI reports

In the latest Crest Supplement, the Times of India has published the names and interview of what it considers top 10 lawyers of India. The names of these legal luminaries which have been published in supplement are;

(i) Fali Nariman

(ii) Soli J Sorabjee

(iii) Harish Salve

(iv) K. Parasaran

(v) Ram Jethmalani

(vi) Abhishek Manu Singhvi

(vii) Mukul Rohatgi

(viii) K.K. Venugopal

(ix) Rohinton F Nariman

(x) Ashok Desai

The supplement also mentions certain distinctively known names which have been left out for reasons one or the other. These are;

(i) Attorney General of India: Goolam E. Vahanvati

(ii) Solicitor General of India: Gopal Subramaniam

(iii) Kapil Sibal

(iv) Arun Jaitley

We would more or less agree with the list except that putting them in order of their intellect or otherwise would depend upon individual perception and thus it is better to consider them at the same par without inter se ranking. Further, there would be a number of other senior advocates who not only possess the level which these top-guns possess but also display them on a regular basis before the courts and may merit consideration in the list of top lawyers of the country. Such Senior Advocates like KTS Tulsi, Anil Dewan etc. are known stalwarts in their own field.

Post - Script Rejoinder

Having written this post, subsequently India Today came up with its own review of the top-lawyers of the country. Trying to make a point that the a new line of lawyers have replaced the old, in a series of two articles, the magazine has taken stock of the latest trends in law i.e. rich and powerful lawyers.

In the first article titled "Rich Lawyers: The new nawabs", the magazine takes note of the changed times wherein the lawyers are paid highly only to secure their mere presence. Nothing the top-lawyers by their name and by the fees they charge, its an interesting insight (for whose unaware of the heights to which these fees have risen in the recent times) in the state-of-affairs in the legal fraternity today.

In the second article titled "Rich Lawyers: Politically legal", the emphasis is on the power which the lawyers yield in as much as they represent the Government before the Courts and thus determine the fate of executive functioning. The role of Attorney General, Solicitor General and Additional Solicitor General, which is gaining prominence now, is thus not just one of mere decoration but also one yielding power.

Given the fact these two articles actually touch the nerve which is closely felt in the legal fraternity but is also unknown to the outside world, we recommend our readers to have a look at them.