One nation, one election panel: Harish Salve fought in Kulbhushan Jadhav case, told SC Article 370 was ‘political compromise’

More than a decade later, Salve faced off with Quereshi before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in 2017 and convinced the ICJ to suspend the death penalty awarded to Jadhav by a Pakistani military court. Salve charged Re 1 in that case as his legal fee.

Salve, the son of the late Congress leader N K P Salve, graduated in law from the Nagpur University in 1980. Enrolling as a lawyer in 1980, he went on to have a successful practice and was designated Senior Advocate in 1992.

Salve was appointed amicus curiae by the Supreme Court in cases related to protection of forests. He was also amicus curiae in the matter that ultimately led to the SC order directing taxis in Delhi and the National Capital Region to shift to compressed natural gas. The senior counsel stood by the fight for the environment once again, successfully defending the Delhi Governmen’s odd-even policy before the Delhi High Court.

The senior counsel was also appointed amicus curiae in cases related to the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Salve reportedly turned down the offer to be Attorney General when Soli Sorabjee wanted to step down during the term of the Vajpayee government and in 2014, when the Narendra Modi government came to power.

He represented Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the case instituted by dismissed BSF personnel Tej Bahadur Yadav challenging an Allahabad High Court order which rejected his election petition against Modi.

Salve’s clients include the who’s who of the country’s corporate sector, from Mukesh Ambani to Ratan Tata. He also defended Vodafone in a tax deal case and former Facebook India head Ajit Mohan after he was summoned by the Delhi Assembly.

In July this year, the senior counsel told a Supreme Court that the Enforcement Directorate had been given drastic powers and needed to be reined in. And last week, he defended the changes made to Article 370 of the Constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and termed the provision a “political compromise” arrived at the time of accession and integration of the erstwhile state into India.

In January 2020, he was appointed as a Queen’s Counsel for the courts of England and Wales. He was conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 2015.