Subodh Markandeya is a senior Indian lawyer, author and judicial activist. He primarily practices at the Supreme Court of India, but also appears in various High Courts. He has served as the standing counsel for

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Life Insurance Corporation of India Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The Life Insurance Corporation of ...

(LIC), State of Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation (UPFC), Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board (U.P.S.E.B.), Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam and numerous Developmental Authorities. He was appointed ' amicus curiae' (friend of the court) by the Supreme Court in the '

Tihar Jail Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, Government of Delhi, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is one ...

Enquiry' (1982–85).

Education

Markandeya took his BSc degree from the Nizam's College in 1956 and LL.B. from City Centre of

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farma ...

Law College (OULC) in 1959. He obtained his master's degree in law in Constitutional & International Law from the Campus Centre of OULC in 1963.

Legal career

Markandeya apprenticed with, and was also a junior to Ramkrishen Rao Nimbalkar, a leading lawyer of the City Civil Court,

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, one time President of its Bar Association and member of the first

Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. ...

, where he engaged in civil law practice. In 1965, he got the opportunity to practice under Jagdish Swarup, legendary lawyer of Allahabad High Court, where he honed his skills in the civil, constitutional, regulatory and interpretation laws. He also acquired independent cases for the Supreme Court of India, particularly in labour and service laws. In 1968 he shifted to Supreme Court as a trainee

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(AOR) under R. Vasudev Pillai. He was enrolled as AOR by the Supreme Court in 1970 and appeared in several '

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' cases from all over India. He was appointed Standing Counsel by the Central Government in 1977 and he appeared in cases of prime importance, including ''Minerva Mills vs. Union of India''. and ''Som Prakash Rekhi vs. UOI'' (3), ''Sanjay Gandhi vs. Delhi Administration'' The Supreme Court appointed him '' amicus curiae'' in the "Tihar Jail Enquiry" Case, which spurred major jail reforms and protection of prisoners' human rights. A petition was moved in the Supreme Court by Markandeya contending that the resignations submitted by MLAs on the issue of Telangana be deemed to have been accepted by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker. He said MLAs belonging to Telangana, irrespective of their political affiliations, submitted their resignations to the Speaker, who acknowledged the receipt of 139 letters. During the Emergency, his joint efforts with R. P. Goel, ater Advocate General of Uttar Pradeshbrought succour and freedom to hundreds of detenues throughout India and particularly Uttar Pradesh. Markandeya was also appointed Counsel for the Allahabad High Court, State of Uttar Pradesh, its various Public Undertakings, Development Authorities, Universities and local bodies. He also appeared for a number of public sector undertakings like Life Insurance Corporation,

Books written

On legal subjects – *The Customs Act, 1962 (JAICO – 1975) *The Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 1973 (JAICO – 1977) *The Imports & Exports Control Act, 1947 (N.M. Tripati – 1977) *The Foreign Trade (Regulation & Development) Act, 1998 (Universal −1998) *The Customs Act, 1962 (Universal - 2003) On General topics: *''SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE – Netaji's Passage to Immortality'' (Arnold – 1991 and 1997)

Legislations drafted

*State of Uttarakhand Act, 1996 (enacted by Indian Parliament as the Uttar Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2000) *Election Laws (Reforms) Act, 1997 (submitted to Law Commission of India) *House of the People & State Assemblies (Special Provisions) Act, 1998 *U.P. Land Acquisition for Development Authorities (Special Provisions Act, 1999 *Uttaranchal Conservation of Environment and Preservation & Augmentation of Glacial and Forest Resources Act, 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:markandeya, Subodh 20th-century Indian lawyers 1937 births Living people Criminal defense lawyers Indian Senior Counsel Indian civil rights activists Indian anti-corruption activists Senior Advocates in India English-language writers from India 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian educational theorists Indian legal scholars Scholars from Hyderabad, India