Meet Telangana’s new Advocate General, BS Prasad

The Telangana government appointed BS Prasad Advocate General on Friday. In a brief conversation, he told Bar & Bench a little bit about himself, his views on the profession, and offered some advice to young lawyers.

Education and early career

Banda Sivananda Prasad joined the Bar in the year 1987, after obtaining his law degree from the Nanded Law College, which is affiliated to Aurangabad’s Marathwada University. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Political Science, and Public Administration, for which he studied at Hyderabad’s Nizam College. He hails from the town of Warangal.

He started his career as a junior lawyer working in C Trivikram Rao’s chambers. He learned the ropes there for five years, before going independent in 1992.

He said that he had over three decades of experience in trial law, service law, and commercial law. He has been standing counsel for the State Bank of India (SBI) and a legal advisor to more than ten other banks.

He said that he was inclined to take up law as a profession from a very young age, adding that it was the noblest of professions.

The previous Advocate General’s resignation

On being asked whether the previous AG D Prakash Reddy had indeed resigned over a tiff with the government as reported, Prasad answered in the negative. He said  that Reddy had resigned after having made a commitment on behalf of the State Legislature, which the government later failed to honour.

He said that the former AG, who is one of the most eminent lawyers at the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, was highly respected and that his resignation had been for personal reasons.

On the exorbitant fee that Senior Counsels charge

The AG was of the view that in cases where a client had the capacity to pay, a Senior Counsel was entitled to charge whatever fee he deemed fit. He said that that excellence in this profession, just like any other, must be suitably rewarded, and that it takes years of hard work and dedication to achieve the level of expertise that top lawyers eventually do.

He was also quick to add that in cases where people could not pay but were fighting for a just cause, Senior Counsel often took up their cases, and did not charge a fee.

Advice to young lawyers

Prasad said that he would encourage all young lawyers fresh out of law school to prefer litigation to a corporate job. He said that a job with a firm might help youngsters settle down earlier, but their professional growth would be limited.

“The beauty about choosing to take up litigation is that you continue to learn throughout your career,” Prasad added.

He also said that he would urge parents not to encourage or put pressure on their children to take up a corporate job, as the joys that litigation offered were unmatched.