Kottayan Katankot Venugopal

Kottayan Katankot Venugopal, K K Venugopal

Kottayan Katankot Venugopal, (born 1931), known generally as K. K. Venugopal (personal name is Venugopal) is an eminent Indian constitutional lawyer and a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India.^[1]

Early and personal life

Born into a Nair-caste family hailing from Kerala state, Venugopal grew up in Mangalore, Karnataka. His father, M.K. Nambiar, was a barrister. Venugopal studied at St. Aloysius College in Mangalore. He had a traditional arranged marriage and is the father of three children, Lakshmi Kumar (daughter, married), Krishnan Venugopal (elder son) and Kannan Konath Venugopal (younger son).

Career

Venugopal has appeared in many high-profile cases. Most significantly, he was appointed by the Royal Government of Bhutan to serve as the chief adviser for drafting of the Constitution of Bhutan. More recently, he was appointed as the chief advisor for the drafting of the Constitution of Nepal as well.

Honours

In 2015, he was conferred Padma Vibhushan award by Government of India. This is the second-highest civilian honour in India. He had previously received the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour.

Opinion on judicial reforms

Mr. Venugopal is one of the main advocates for Judicial reforms in India. He is against the creation of regional benches of the Supreme Court of India. Instead, he recommends that Courts of Appeal be established in the four regions of the country, who finally decide on appeals from the High Court judgments in all cases other than cases of national importance which affect the whole country, disputes between States or between States and the Centre, Presidential references and substantial questions of law relating to interpretation of the Constitution. This will relieve the burden on Supreme Court.^[2]

References