KK Venugopal Was Silent When Majoritarianism Grew During His Tenure As AG: Subhashini Ali

Senior CPI(M) leader and former MP Subhashini Ali on Tuesday criticised former Attorney General KK Venugopal, stating that he remained silent when “majoritarianism” was rising during his tenure as the country's top law officer between 2017 and 2022.

Ali made the remarks while speaking at the launch of Venugopal's autobiography 'The Accidental Lawyer' at New Delhi.

Ali began by saying that she had initially been surprised by the invitation to speak at the event.

“It has been difficult for me to prepare for this evening. It was a very unexpected honour for me to be invited. I had really no idea why I was invited. The organisers said he was very insistent and he didn't want any sycophants on stage,” she said.

She added that she had read the book multiple times but felt she was “not qualified to speak about most of the things.” However, she noted that Venugopal was “extremely critical” of the Emergency during 1975–1977, and that his observations contained warnings about the dangers posed by authoritarian regimes.

Ali also referred to Venugopal's role in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition. She noted that Venugopal had appeared for former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in related proceedings before the Supreme Court and had expressed regret over the demolition.

“He stood before the Chief Justice of India and said 'I hang my head in shame'. Let the Union of India put the bricks back so that the mosque stands back” she recalled what he write in the book, while acknowledging that he had acted as “a good lawyer” in representing his client. 

She noted that Venugopal refused to represent Kalyan Singh after that.  At the same time, Ali said she found it difficult to understand Venugopal's subsequent decision to vigorously defend LK Advani in cases related to the demolition.

“I was in Uttar Pradesh at that time. The hysteria and madness were all very real,” she said, referring to the atmosphere surrounding the demolition and the riots that followed.

Turning to Venugopal's tenure as Attorney General from 2017 to 2022, Ali said the period saw the rise of majoritarian politics and several controversial developments.

Ali said that there was silence in the book which was "inexplicable".

"There is a silence that is incomprehensible. The anger that the attacks on the Constitution made during the emergency, the horrors of the 1984 pogrom in Delhi, evoked are both replaced with silence. The [Babri] demolition was followed by riots all over the country and the Gujarat pogrom a few years later. Majoritarianism was strengthened by the day, infecting institutions, including the judiciary, at various levels. But there is silence.

The last chapter in the book is "Attorney General for India". He writes that the Attorney General does not act for the Government of the day but for the people of India. KKV quite rightly says he wishes to be judged by this metric. 2017-2022 was his tenure. Majoritarianism during this time was not just moving towards but was hurtling towards an unimaginably dark future. CAA, lynchings, farmers' protest, Article 370 abrogation, reduction of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, bulldozing of homes, unabated hate speech and the Ayodhya judgment itself, which went against what KKV had averred before the CJI in 1992. All this and much more occurred during his time as the AG. He was silent then, and he is silent now after demitting office," Ali said.

Despite her criticism, Ali concluded by expressing hope that Venugopal's resilience would lead him to follow the example of his father in defending constitutional values.

“It makes me hope his resilience will make him follow the steps of his father to protect the Constitution that has been weakened and hollowed out as never before,” she said.

Veteran journalist N Ram, Advocate Raian Karanjawala were also present at the book launch.

The event can be watched here.