I HAD NO IDEA AT ALL HOW A LAWYER WOULD FUNCTION
Maharajapuram Natarajan Krishnamani was born on April 26, 1948. He received his education from Ramakrishna Mission Boys’ High School, Vaishnav College, Presidency College, and Law College, Madras. He had a brief political career and was a trade union leader from 1969-1975. In 1971 he was enrolled as a lawyer and was designated Senior Counsel in 1992. Some time back he was the Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He is the Chief Co-ordinator of Study-Circles in Sri Satya Sai organisation, in the State of Delhi. He is also the President of the Delhi Tamil Sangam representing several lacs of Tamilians in the capital. Mr. Krishnamani speaks exclusively to our correspondent Renu Sharma.
What inspired you to take up law as your profession?
My original aim was to become a doctor. However during the holidays immediately after I had done my Pre-University course, I was reading the biographies of Jawaharlal Nehru and Thomas Jefferson. Both of them had studied first geology and then law. I was impressed by both of them. So I told my father that I would also like to study geology, and then law like them. Then I did join geology in the Presidency College in Madras, and thereafter, I did law from Madras Law College. I am the first in my family to have taken up law. I had no idea at all how a lawyer would function. In fact, my relatives and others were against my joining, but I said no to them and was firm about becoming a lawyer. My father and mother stood by me.
Did you, at any point in your career, want to be a judge and see the judiciary from the other side of the bar?
There was no intention in me to become a judge at all, but about thirteen years back, for the first time I was asked through a leading Senior Advocate who had been a Union Minister earlier. I consulted with Mr. Venugopal, who was my senior long back. He told me “No, no, don’t become a judge, you will curse everybody and yourself if you become a judge. Further, you won’t be able to send your children abroad for [higher studies…]”
The destiny of all these three stood changed by a fraction of a second!
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