In the second part of The Insiders, Bar & Bench profiles the office of Solicitor General of India Mohan Parasaran..Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran.Like Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, Solicitor General (SG) Mohan Parasaran has also been a Central government law officer for a decade. He served as an Additional Solicitor General (ASG) from 2004 till February, 2013 when he was appointed the SG following Rohinton Nariman’s resignation. Meyyappan Nagappan, who has been with Parasaran since July 2010, tells us more about the SG and his office..The office and allotment of work.Parasaran has his private chambers at Greater Kailash but his official residence is at Krishna Menon Marg close to the home of the Chief Justice of India. “The SG uses his official residence usually for holding conferences and meetings; otherwise most of the work happens at the Greater Kailash office”, says Meyyappan..Like the AG, the SG’s office also gets briefs marked from the Central Agency. Parasaran’s office currently houses 10 juniors. Many of the juniors of the SG are on the Central government Panel. Talking about how he was enlisted on the Panel, Meyyappan says that, “I was interviewed by a Committee of three whose members included Additional Solicitor General Mohan Jain and Additional Law Secretary Raghupathy, who is in charge of the Central Agency section. Once you are on the Panel, you are marked matters by the Central Agency. I am marked a lot of matters in which the SG is appearing as logistically, it is easier for us to brief the SG.”.Once a lawyer is empanelled, he is expected to not only assist the concerned law officer but also to be in the court and argue the matter if required..“A lot of the Panel counsels including me sometimes find it difficult to go and brief other law officers. That is when the chamber juniors step in and fill the gap, particularly on a Monday or a Friday, when the workload is very high.”.Regarding the allotment of work to juniors, Meyyappan says that, “SG allots work to the juniors himself and there is no hard and fast rule about allotment. Sometimes there are matters in which I am very interested and on request he obliges as far as possible unless he has allotted it to someone else. He also keeps track of cases you have done earlier and allots work on that basis as well.”.The SG’s office also gets a lot of opinion work, both from the government and Public Sector Undertakings. And when it comes to work load, the SG’s office is no exception. “Being a law officer, you can refuse work in principle. However, he takes it seriously and feels duty bound to dispose the opinions as soon as possible. I feel he is quite overburdened. He also ends up relying on us (juniors) a lot.”.Being the Solicitor General of India.After becoming the SG, there has been a marked shift in the kind of matters Parasaran is being assigned. As an ASG, Parasaran was handling many international tax, income tax and excise matters. “After becoming the SG, the profile of the cases that he has been asked to handle have increased. He is not travelling as often as he used to. As an ASG, he was often out of town and had matters in other High Courts as well. But after becoming the SG, his practice is largely in the Supreme Court.”, says Meyyappan..His elevation to the post of the SG has also brought about other changes. Meyyappan says that, “He was an ASG when I interned under him and only had two juniors assisting him at that time. It was a very small office and I had a great time working under him as I was able to interact with him often. Nowadays he is hard-pressed for time and under pressure to appear in a lot of matters. There is a far greater demand on his time as people are always calling for conferences, meetings, opinions or regarding cases. There are many ASGs, but only one SG.”.When it comes to fora, the SG and the ASGs usually don’t appear in the lower courts unless the matter involves high stakes or is a politically sensitive case. Meyyappan recounts a matter involving the evasion of Rs. 350 crore excise duty. “That was actually the first matter he assigned me when I joined. It had about 18 volumes of evidence. He really did not have time to sit there in CESTAT. So I ended up going there for over 15 days. In such high stakes matters, on very rare occasions the ASGs are engaged as a special counsel. In fact, after becoming the SG, he has returned the brief citing paucity of time and I am currently assisting ASG Rakesh Khanna in the same matter”.Relation with the Attorney General and ASGs.On the working relationship between the AG and the SG, Meyyappan says, “Sometimes there maybe cases when the AG and the SG discuss things and take a call. There is no set rule about it. They do consult each other occasionally. It is customary for the SG to defer to the AG’s advice or opinion. If they have had any disagreements, I have not been made aware of it. I have heard him say that the AG is the leader of the team and that is how it works. I see other ASGs defer to his opinion after he became the SG.”.There are times when the law officers are involved in the same matter but on behalf of different parties, taking conflicting stands. Such conflicts often make for interesting court room stories. “That happens occasionally when different ministries or different government bodies are arraigned as respondents in the same matter and have a difference in opinion.”.However, in such cases the law officers try to smoothen things out. “Even though there may be difference in the views of the ministries, by the time it goes to the Court you try to resolve the differences and present a unified stand on behalf of the government. The law officers sit and discuss with the departmental officers either jointly or independently to try and smoothen things out.”.Litigating for the government.‘Last minute briefs’ is a head ache faced by all law officers including the SG. “It happens all the time”, says Meyyappan. “But the best part about him is that he just takes it in his stride, although there are times when he says, ‘This is absolutely impossible’; especially at times when only the docket is issued and there is no brief. I hope something is done about it.”.But Meyyappan does not believe that having more law officers would be an effective solution. “The law officers lack sufficient support, infrastructure wise and the Central Agency itself is creaking. If there are more people and better facilities in the Central Agency section, things would probably run a bit smoother and more professionally. But these are all long term plans. It takes a lot of time to get things to move. I can imagine it is especially difficult to revolutionize the system when there are frequent changes both in the Law Ministry and these offices due to a variety of reasons.”.When it comes to the government’s tendency to litigate, Meyyapan is of the view that “it is abundant caution on the part of the government. The officers in the concerned department mostly seem to want to err on the side of caution. I feel that there is a fear within the bureaucracy that if an appeal is not filed on the basis of their advice, the CVC or somebody may file a complaint alleging corruption. So, they prefer to file an appeal and let the courts deal with it. And it does not cost them if a frivolous petition is dismissed while at the same time protecting them from any blame.”.The work culture in the office.Parasaran, like other law officers, pays his juniors out of his pocket. That apart, juniors who are on the Panel get paid by the government for the dockets which are marked to them from the Central Agency..Juniors are allowed to take up their own matters and Parasaran is quite flexible in that regard. “Initially when I was not on the Panel and was just 4 or 5 months into the office”, says Meyyappan, “I appeared and argued for 7500 schools from Tamil Nadu in the challenge to the Right to Education Act. I informed him (Parasaran) of it and he was fine with that. So every Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the hearing in that matter was going on continuously on a daily basis for almost 6 months. So, I was effectively in office only on Mondays and Fridays assisting with the miscellaneous day matters and he was fine with it.”.Even with regard to office timings, Parasaran is very flexible..“Increasingly, it is difficult to discuss opinions or drafts with him in the evenings due to back to back conferences and then people turn up unannounced to meet him. However, I have found it easier to catch him in the morning or leave the papers on his desk and coordinate with him over the phone. That way, I am in office whenever my presence is required and I am also able to take up other private work that comes my way or assist other law officers as well.”.Meyyappan believes that working with a law officer is more challenging than a stint with a Senior Counsel. “It also depends on the senior under whom you work. It has been very challenging and interesting working with the SG because he gives you so much leeway and he relies on you. If you make a mistake, he gets exposed in court; so you are always on your toes. It was great to run an entire arbitration proceeding from scratch for the Ministry of External Affairs in a high stakes matter and I conducted the cross-examination as well. I have also recently assisted the SG in many politically sensitive cases concerning Tamil Nadu. I don’t know if in other offices you will get the opportunity to participate in such high profile matters and argue at such a young age.”.Another advantage in being associated with the office of the SG is that one gets to build relationships; “You meet a lot of people in the ministries –joint secretaries, secretaries – people you would otherwise not have access to. And that way you are able to build relationships with a lot of people.”.Terming Parasaran as very suited for the role of an SG, Meyyappan says, “Things always don’t happen on time, people may not always turn up to brief you, files may not always be there. It is not like in private practice. I think his nature is such that he would try to smoothen things out always and it is the kind of attitude that helps. Many times when we are appearing in the court, we don’t have the best case. Many times we are trying to prevent an adverse order from being passed. And in such situations it does not help to be overly combative. You are only as good as the case is.”.He is quite clear that he would like to continue with Parasaran even after his term expires. “I would still like to work with him. He gives me a lot of freedom in doing my private work. I don’t see why I should leave him. I am quite curious about how private work would be under him. Even when I interned with him, he was an ASG. So all I have been exposed to is government litigation. Having the relationship I have established with him over the last couple of years, I think I will continue with him and see how private practice pans out.”.(The first article in this series covered the office of Attorney General GE Vahanvati.The third and final article will be a profile of Additional Solicitor General Nageswara Rao’s office.)
In the second part of The Insiders, Bar & Bench profiles the office of Solicitor General of India Mohan Parasaran..Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran.Like Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, Solicitor General (SG) Mohan Parasaran has also been a Central government law officer for a decade. He served as an Additional Solicitor General (ASG) from 2004 till February, 2013 when he was appointed the SG following Rohinton Nariman’s resignation. Meyyappan Nagappan, who has been with Parasaran since July 2010, tells us more about the SG and his office..The office and allotment of work.Parasaran has his private chambers at Greater Kailash but his official residence is at Krishna Menon Marg close to the home of the Chief Justice of India. “The SG uses his official residence usually for holding conferences and meetings; otherwise most of the work happens at the Greater Kailash office”, says Meyyappan..Like the AG, the SG’s office also gets briefs marked from the Central Agency. Parasaran’s office currently houses 10 juniors. Many of the juniors of the SG are on the Central government Panel. Talking about how he was enlisted on the Panel, Meyyappan says that, “I was interviewed by a Committee of three whose members included Additional Solicitor General Mohan Jain and Additional Law Secretary Raghupathy, who is in charge of the Central Agency section. Once you are on the Panel, you are marked matters by the Central Agency. I am marked a lot of matters in which the SG is appearing as logistically, it is easier for us to brief the SG.”.Once a lawyer is empanelled, he is expected to not only assist the concerned law officer but also to be in the court and argue the matter if required..“A lot of the Panel counsels including me sometimes find it difficult to go and brief other law officers. That is when the chamber juniors step in and fill the gap, particularly on a Monday or a Friday, when the workload is very high.”.Regarding the allotment of work to juniors, Meyyappan says that, “SG allots work to the juniors himself and there is no hard and fast rule about allotment. Sometimes there are matters in which I am very interested and on request he obliges as far as possible unless he has allotted it to someone else. He also keeps track of cases you have done earlier and allots work on that basis as well.”.The SG’s office also gets a lot of opinion work, both from the government and Public Sector Undertakings. And when it comes to work load, the SG’s office is no exception. “Being a law officer, you can refuse work in principle. However, he takes it seriously and feels duty bound to dispose the opinions as soon as possible. I feel he is quite overburdened. He also ends up relying on us (juniors) a lot.”.Being the Solicitor General of India.After becoming the SG, there has been a marked shift in the kind of matters Parasaran is being assigned. As an ASG, Parasaran was handling many international tax, income tax and excise matters. “After becoming the SG, the profile of the cases that he has been asked to handle have increased. He is not travelling as often as he used to. As an ASG, he was often out of town and had matters in other High Courts as well. But after becoming the SG, his practice is largely in the Supreme Court.”, says Meyyappan..His elevation to the post of the SG has also brought about other changes. Meyyappan says that, “He was an ASG when I interned under him and only had two juniors assisting him at that time. It was a very small office and I had a great time working under him as I was able to interact with him often. Nowadays he is hard-pressed for time and under pressure to appear in a lot of matters. There is a far greater demand on his time as people are always calling for conferences, meetings, opinions or regarding cases. There are many ASGs, but only one SG.”.When it comes to fora, the SG and the ASGs usually don’t appear in the lower courts unless the matter involves high stakes or is a politically sensitive case. Meyyappan recounts a matter involving the evasion of Rs. 350 crore excise duty. “That was actually the first matter he assigned me when I joined. It had about 18 volumes of evidence. He really did not have time to sit there in CESTAT. So I ended up going there for over 15 days. In such high stakes matters, on very rare occasions the ASGs are engaged as a special counsel. In fact, after becoming the SG, he has returned the brief citing paucity of time and I am currently assisting ASG Rakesh Khanna in the same matter”.Relation with the Attorney General and ASGs.On the working relationship between the AG and the SG, Meyyappan says, “Sometimes there maybe cases when the AG and the SG discuss things and take a call. There is no set rule about it. They do consult each other occasionally. It is customary for the SG to defer to the AG’s advice or opinion. If they have had any disagreements, I have not been made aware of it. I have heard him say that the AG is the leader of the team and that is how it works. I see other ASGs defer to his opinion after he became the SG.”.There are times when the law officers are involved in the same matter but on behalf of different parties, taking conflicting stands. Such conflicts often make for interesting court room stories. “That happens occasionally when different ministries or different government bodies are arraigned as respondents in the same matter and have a difference in opinion.”.However, in such cases the law officers try to smoothen things out. “Even though there may be difference in the views of the ministries, by the time it goes to the Court you try to resolve the differences and present a unified stand on behalf of the government. The law officers sit and discuss with the departmental officers either jointly or independently to try and smoothen things out.”.Litigating for the government.‘Last minute briefs’ is a head ache faced by all law officers including the SG. “It happens all the time”, says Meyyappan. “But the best part about him is that he just takes it in his stride, although there are times when he says, ‘This is absolutely impossible’; especially at times when only the docket is issued and there is no brief. I hope something is done about it.”.But Meyyappan does not believe that having more law officers would be an effective solution. “The law officers lack sufficient support, infrastructure wise and the Central Agency itself is creaking. If there are more people and better facilities in the Central Agency section, things would probably run a bit smoother and more professionally. But these are all long term plans. It takes a lot of time to get things to move. I can imagine it is especially difficult to revolutionize the system when there are frequent changes both in the Law Ministry and these offices due to a variety of reasons.”.When it comes to the government’s tendency to litigate, Meyyapan is of the view that “it is abundant caution on the part of the government. The officers in the concerned department mostly seem to want to err on the side of caution. I feel that there is a fear within the bureaucracy that if an appeal is not filed on the basis of their advice, the CVC or somebody may file a complaint alleging corruption. So, they prefer to file an appeal and let the courts deal with it. And it does not cost them if a frivolous petition is dismissed while at the same time protecting them from any blame.”.The work culture in the office.Parasaran, like other law officers, pays his juniors out of his pocket. That apart, juniors who are on the Panel get paid by the government for the dockets which are marked to them from the Central Agency..Juniors are allowed to take up their own matters and Parasaran is quite flexible in that regard. “Initially when I was not on the Panel and was just 4 or 5 months into the office”, says Meyyappan, “I appeared and argued for 7500 schools from Tamil Nadu in the challenge to the Right to Education Act. I informed him (Parasaran) of it and he was fine with that. So every Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the hearing in that matter was going on continuously on a daily basis for almost 6 months. So, I was effectively in office only on Mondays and Fridays assisting with the miscellaneous day matters and he was fine with it.”.Even with regard to office timings, Parasaran is very flexible..“Increasingly, it is difficult to discuss opinions or drafts with him in the evenings due to back to back conferences and then people turn up unannounced to meet him. However, I have found it easier to catch him in the morning or leave the papers on his desk and coordinate with him over the phone. That way, I am in office whenever my presence is required and I am also able to take up other private work that comes my way or assist other law officers as well.”.Meyyappan believes that working with a law officer is more challenging than a stint with a Senior Counsel. “It also depends on the senior under whom you work. It has been very challenging and interesting working with the SG because he gives you so much leeway and he relies on you. If you make a mistake, he gets exposed in court; so you are always on your toes. It was great to run an entire arbitration proceeding from scratch for the Ministry of External Affairs in a high stakes matter and I conducted the cross-examination as well. I have also recently assisted the SG in many politically sensitive cases concerning Tamil Nadu. I don’t know if in other offices you will get the opportunity to participate in such high profile matters and argue at such a young age.”.Another advantage in being associated with the office of the SG is that one gets to build relationships; “You meet a lot of people in the ministries –joint secretaries, secretaries – people you would otherwise not have access to. And that way you are able to build relationships with a lot of people.”.Terming Parasaran as very suited for the role of an SG, Meyyappan says, “Things always don’t happen on time, people may not always turn up to brief you, files may not always be there. It is not like in private practice. I think his nature is such that he would try to smoothen things out always and it is the kind of attitude that helps. Many times when we are appearing in the court, we don’t have the best case. Many times we are trying to prevent an adverse order from being passed. And in such situations it does not help to be overly combative. You are only as good as the case is.”.He is quite clear that he would like to continue with Parasaran even after his term expires. “I would still like to work with him. He gives me a lot of freedom in doing my private work. I don’t see why I should leave him. I am quite curious about how private work would be under him. Even when I interned with him, he was an ASG. So all I have been exposed to is government litigation. Having the relationship I have established with him over the last couple of years, I think I will continue with him and see how private practice pans out.”.(The first article in this series covered the office of Attorney General GE Vahanvati.The third and final article will be a profile of Additional Solicitor General Nageswara Rao’s office.)
