Sidharth Luthra

Sidharth Luthra

Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra
Born (1966-02-16)February 16, 1966
Alma mater University of Cambridge (MPhil)
University of Delhi (LLB)
Delhi Public School
Occupation Lawyer

Sidharth Luthra (Hindi: सिद्धार्थ लूथरा; born 16 February 1966) is a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He is the son of the Late Mr K K Luthra who was also an eminent senior advocate. In July 2012, Sidharth Luthra was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India at the Supreme Court and represented the union and various state governments in matters relating to fundamental rights, electoral reforms, criminal law and policy issues.[1][2] He resigned from this position in May 2014.[3]

Luthra specialises in criminal law, white collar crimes and cyber frauds.[4] He studied law at the University of Delhi where he completed his LLB in 1990 and then did an MPhil in Criminology from the University of Cambridge in 1991.[4] He was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law by Amity University, India, in 2015.

Luthra is currently representing the Union Minister of Finance, Mr Arun Jaitley in the criminal defamation lawsuit filed by him against the Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr Arvind Kejriwal.[5]

Luthra is also a member of the Delhi State Legal Services Authority and the Vice President of the Indian Criminal Justice Society. He also sits on the advisory board of two Indian legal journals, the Delhi Law Times and the Delhi Reported Judgements. Luthra dedicates nearly 30 to 40 percent of his cases to pro bono.[6]

Apart from litigation, Luthra also teaches law in India and abroad. He is a visiting Professor at Northumbria University at Newcastle, United Kingdom[7] and an Honorary Professor at the Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Early Life and Education

Luthra studied sciences at Delhi Public School, RK Puram, followed by a BA in mathematics from Hindu College, Delhi in 1987.[2] He graduated in law in 1990 from LLB Campus Law Centre, Delhi University. He then went to the University of Cambridge to pursue an MPhil in Criminology.[1][2] He is a fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust.

Career

One of the top criminal lawyers in the country, Luthra has been practicing law for over two decades.[4][6] He joined the bar in 1991 and started working at Bhasin & Co where he practiced civil law.[2] In 1993, he started working at his father's chamber but continued practicing civil law. He also taught law at the Delhi University in 1996-97.[8]

After his father passed away in 1997, Luthra reinvented himself as a criminal lawyer under the mentorship of late Senior Advocate P R Vakil and took over his father’s practice.[2]

Tehelka Case

In 2002, Luthra represented Tehelka Magazine before the Justice Venkataswami Commission which was constituted in the aftermath of the Operation West End sting operation. During the proceddings of the commission he cross-examined the then Union Defence Minister George Fernandes.[9]

Senior Advocate

Luthra represented the Government of India in the High Court of Delhi from 2004 to 2007 as a Senior Panel Counsel. He was designated as a Senior Advocate, a position that is conferred on merit to exceptional lawyers by the judges of the high court, in 2007. He moved his practice from the Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court of India in 2010.[8]

Justice Soumitra Sen Case

Luthra was appointed by the Government of India in 2009 as a counsel to assist the Judges Inquiry Committee in the Justice Soumitra Sen Case. The committee found Justice Sen guilty of misbehaviour under Article 124(4) (read with proviso (b) to Article 217(1)) of the Constitution of India.[10]

Facebook Case

In December 2011, Luthra was hired by Facebook for a criminal trial initiated by journalist Vinay Rai against 21 social networking sites in India including Facebook, Google and Yahoo.[11]

Tenure as Additional Solicitor General

In 2012, the Manmohan Singh government appointed Luthra to the post of the Additional Solicitor General (ASG). One of the biggest cases in his tenure as ASG was the proposed release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The Tamil Nadu government had proposed to remit the sentence of life for the seven convicted for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi release them after their death penalty was commuted to sentence of life by the Supreme Court in 2014.[12] The then Attorney General of India, late senior advocate Goolam Essaji Vahanvati, the then Solicitor General senior advocate Mohan Parasaran and Luthra swiftly moved a writ petition to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Union Government challenging the power of the Tamil Nadu government to remit the sentences of the convicted Sriharan alias Murugan and six others.[13] The remittance was put on hold by the Supreme Court which in a later sentence in December 2015, held that a state government has no suo motu power to remit sentences of persons who were convicted under a central Law and cases investigated by the CBI.[14]

Luthra also represented Central Bureau of Investigation, India, in the Dr. Subramanian Swamy vs Director, CBI, case in 2013-14 in which the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (‘the DSPE Act’) was at issue.[15][16] A Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices A.K. Patnaik, S J Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla held that Section 6A of the DSPE Act that granted protection to joint secretary and above officers from facing even a preliminary inquiry by the CBI in corruption cases, was violative of Article 14 of the consititution and thus constitutionally invalid, a decision that was welcomed by the CBI.[15]

Recent Cases

Luthra represented WhatsApp in a public interest litigation case filed against it in September 2016 in the Delhi High Court by two students regarding its new privacy policy.[17]

Luthra is currently representing the Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley in the criminal defamation lawsuit filed by him against the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal. Arun Jaitley has also filed a civil defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal.[18] The Supreme Court in November 2016 declined Kejriwal’s appeal to stay the criminal defamation proceedings.[19]

As Amicus Curiae

In addition to his litigation work, Luthra is assisting the Supreme Court of India as amicus curiae in the matter of criminalisation of politics which is due to be heard by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court.[20] The said matter was referred to a constitution bench of the Supreme Court by a bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and R K Agrawal examining an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging Allahabad High Court order for constituting a committee of eminent persons to suggest ways and means to check criminalization of politics. Luthra told the bench that the police and the Central Bureau of Investigation should be made immune to political influence so that the criminal trials against politicians can be expedited.[20]

Publications

Year Title Newspaper/Publisher Notes
2006 Is it Time to Revisit K.M. Mathew Case?[21] Eastern Book Company Published in 2006
2013The Power of a Short Message[22] The Indian Express Published on 21 June 2013
2014 Right to Silence[23] Times of India Published on 3 February 2014
2014 The Speed of Justice[24] The Indian Express Published on 7 April 2014
2015 A Balancing Act – Protection Privacy and Permitting Surveillance SSC online and Student Law Journal Published in 2015
2015 Single Mothers, Absent Fathers and the Best Interests of the Child: Drawing a Fine Balance in the ABC Case[7] Oxford Human Rights Hub Published on 16 July 2015
2016 Epilogue for Climate Change - Law, Policy and Governance[25] Eastern Book Company Published in 2016
2016 Rape: Violation of the Chastity or Dignity of Woman? A Feminist Critique of Indian Law[26] Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher Published on 27 June 2016

Honours

Luthra was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law by Amity University, India, in 2015.

K K Luthra Memorial Moot Court

Luthra organises an international moot court competition in Delhi every year in memory of his late father Mr K K Luthra.[27][28]

References

  1. 1 2 "Breaking: Senior counsel Sidharth Luthra accepts ASG appointment". Legally India. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Debrief: ASG Sidharth Luthra on creativity, criminals, success and tea with kindly judges". Legally India. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Law officers line up to resign". Times of India. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Criminal law is a great career option for students: Sidharth Luthra". Hindustan Times. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Arun Jaitley files defamation case against Kejriwal, next hearing on January 5". India Today. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  6. 1 2 "How much do Delhi's top advocates charge?". Livemint. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Single Mothers, Absent Fathers and the Best Interests of the Child - Drawing a Fine Balance in the ABC Case: Sidharth Luthra and Viraj Gandhi". Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog. 16 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Get a Glimpse - Courting an exciting career". Livemint. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Tehelka trials". Frontline. 6 July 2002. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "SC panel finds Sen guilty of misbehaviour". Times of India. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "Govt sanctions prosecution of Google, Facebook". News18. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Rajiv Gandhi's killers will be freed if Centre doesn't respond in 3 days: Jayalalithaa". NDTV. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "Kin of Rajiv Gandhi case convicts swing between hope and despair". India Today. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Centre, not state, has 'primacy' in release: SC". The Hindu. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  15. 1 2 "No sanction needed for CBI to probe bureaucrats: SC". The Hindi. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  16. ↑ "Sanction provision perpetuates corruption, says Supreme Court". The Hindu. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "WhatsApp defends privacy policy in Delhi High Court". Livemint. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Arun Jaitley defamation suit: Delhi HC reserves judgment on Kejriwal plea for stay". The Indian Express. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  19. ↑ "SC declines to put on hold Jaitley's defamation case against Kejriwal". Hindustan Times. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  20. 1 2 "How to stop criminalisation of politics? SC constitution bench to decide". Times of India. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  21. ↑ "Is it Time to Revisit K.M. Mathew Case". Eastern Book Company. 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Power of a Short Message". The Indian Express. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  23. ↑ "Right to Silence". Times of India. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  24. ↑ "The Speed of Justice". The Indian Express. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  25. ↑ "Epilogue for Climate Change - Law, Policy and Governance". Eastern Book Company. 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  26. ↑ Rape: Violation of the Chastity or Dignity of Woman? A Feminist Critique of Indian Law, Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, 27 June 2016, retrieved 1 December 2016
  27. ↑ "Breaking: Senior counsel Sidharth Luthra accepts ASG appointment". Legally India. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  28. ↑ "In Conversation with winners of 12th K.K Luthra Memorial Moot Court Competition". Live Law. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.

Links to Articles

1. Is it Time to Revisit K.M. Mathew Case?

2. The Power of a Short Message

3. Right to Silence

4. The Speed of Justice

5. Single Mothers, Absent Fathers and the Best Interests of the Child: Drawing a Fine Balance in the ABC Case

6. A Feminist Critique of Indian Law

7. Climate Change - Law, Policy and Governance by Usha Tandon (Editor)

External links

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