KK Venugopal: The accidental lawyer who shaped seven decades of India’s legal history

2026-03-06 - 14:53

Former Attorney General of India and senior advocate K.K. Venugopal may have represented Chief Ministers, States, and top politicians over the course of a long career, but still sees himself as The Accidental Lawyer, the title of his new autobiography. In a candid conversation with The Hindu, senior advocate K.K. Venugopal discusses the “command from political masters” that triggered the anti-Sikh riots in the 1980s, his sense of betrayal when he realised then-Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh had told him an “utter lie” that the Babri Masjid would not be demolished in the 1990s, his efforts in court to defend the National Judicial Appointments Commission and the government’s duty today to ensure that there is no discrimination or persecution of any religion or caste.