Second time, it’s a yes! L Nageswara Rao’s change of mind

Lawyers in Supreme Court were in for a surprise today morning; Senior Advocate and former ASG L Nageswara Rao’s name was amongst those recommended by the Chief Justice Thakur-led collegium..The surprise was not without reason..Rao, till as late as yesterday evening, had made his presence felt in Supreme Court. He had appeared and argued for Tamil Nadu and Christian Medical College in the NEET case yesterday. After he quit as Additional Solicitor General in 2014, Rao had returned to a flourishing private practice and had since then appeared in many high profile cases..Rao’s name has now been sent to the Law Ministry along with names of three other High Court judges. If the Centre approves the recommendations of the Collegium, Rao will have the distinction of being the seventh person ever in the history of the Supreme Court to have been appointed as judge directly from the Bar..What is interesting, however, is that this is not the first time Rao has been offered judgeship. The Collegium headed by former Chief Justice RM Lodha had made an offer in early 2014. He had turned it down then for various reasons. Rao was 57 years old at that point of time..Two years down the line, and it appears that Chief Justice Thakur has been able to convince Rao..Hailing from Guntur, Rao was designated Senior Advocate in 2000. He has served as Additional Solicitor General three times – twice during the NDA regime and once during the UPA’s..Rao’s clientele includes some very big names including Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa. He has appeared in both, the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court in Jayalalithaa’s disproportionate assets case..Rao’s office is arguably one of the best offices to work for junior lawyers. Advocate Abhinav Rao, who had worked with him for more than 3 years, had spoken to Bar & Bench about the office and work culture..“I think it is one of the best offices to work. Lots of Seniors are very cold towards their juniors. They don’t really care about them as long as their work is done. In a lot of offices, the juniors’ roles are strictly defined. You read, you make a note, and you often don’t get to discuss matters with your boss. But that is not the case here..“….he expects us (juniors) to come up with something new in every case. So, there is always that additional pressure that he keeps putting on us which ultimately leads us to think on the brief. He always tells us that if we want to do well, in the Supreme Court especially, we have to come up with something new. So there is always that push.”.The senior counsel is also known to be thorough with his briefs and read the briefs himself, working for at least 16 hours a day..“There are many senior counsels who prefer to rely on the people briefing them – either the briefing counsel or their juniors. He, however, reads the brief himself, his approach towards the brief has not changed whether it is government practice or private practice. He puts in the same effort”, says Abhinav. .Rao is known to be media shy and generally refrains from speaking to journalists..At 59, we do not know what made Rao re-think his earlier decision; we might never know..But one thing is certain – both the Bar and the Bench are keenly awaiting the commencement of his six-year tenure at the country’s apex court.