Meet Justice B N Srikrishna, the govt's go-to man

He has emerged as the man whom the govt calls when it needs help with complex policy

On Friday, Justice B N Srikrishna will discuss the key findings of a committee on arbitration mechanism with journalists. The high-level panel headed by him had been deliberating on the matter for the past seven months and is now ready with its report.

But even as he wraps up one task, another one begins. Earlier this week, the government picked the retired Supreme Court judge to head a committee to suggest recommendations on a framework governing data protection. Srikrishna will have experts and government officials in the 10-member panel that will thrash out key issues related to privacy as technology takes over our lives. 

Heading such high-profile panels has been a recurring theme for the 76-year-old legal luminary from Mumbai’s Matunga, who retired as a Supreme Court judge in 2006. 

His first such assignment came early into his career in the 1990s, when he headed the commission of enquiry into the communal riots that shook Mumbai in 1993. The landmark report submitted in February 1998 sparked much debate. 

The son of a prominent labour lawyer has since decided on the pay hikes for  central government staff as the head of the Sixth Central Pay Commission, given a consumer focus to the financial sector laws as chairman of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, worked through the nitty-gritties of forming the state of Telangana, and headed a panel on institutionalisation of arbitration in India.  It is not easy to find many people like him. He has been able to accept — and effectively execute — complex policy-making assignments under different political formations. 

“He is above politics and speaks his mind. That is why he is the ‘go-to’ man for any government,” says a senior professional who has worked with him. 

Srikrishna himself recently recalled how he had written a scathing article on the judiciary’s tendency to usurp powers of other arms of the government, while he was still a sitting judge in the Supreme Court. In a much-watched speech on youtube at the PRS Annual Conference in December, Srikrishna effortlessly moved from the Upanishads to 18th century American statesman Alexander Hamilton and the theory of basic creature, peppered with anecdotes from his own rich experience, to explain the tussle between the legislative and the judiciary.  

He even drew analogies between cricket and the workings of the judiciary: “the umpire never takes the bat — like the Supreme Court has sometimes done.”

This ability to simplify things and deliver them with a touch of humour has endeared him to many in the policy circles.  When the Union cabinet sat to choose the person who could head the committee on formation of Telangana a few years ago, such was his credibility quotient that every name other than his was outrightly rejected.

People who have worked with him say while he stands head and shoulders above most in erudition and scholarship, he can also give any youngster a run for his money when it comes to know-how about technology. Currently, he serves as the chairman of the Financial Planning Standards Board and is a member on the board of NSDL e-governance.

Ranjeet Mudholkar, who is Srikrishna’s deputy at the Financial Services Promotion Board, describes him as an “intellectual treat”.  “Justice Srikrishna is a strong tech-savvy professional himself, and he leads and drives the team in a business-like manner.” The nation could not have asked for a better assessor of the situation and is lucky to be guided by his wisdom on morality, ethics, and the legal paradigm collectively, Mudholkar says.  

Born to Narayanaswamy, a prominent labour lawyer in Mumbai and Sharadamma in 1941, Srikrishna graduated in Science. When he was about to enrol for a postgraduate degree, Narayanaswamy remarked that legal brains required a special IQ. That ticked Srikrishna off. “I said I could outdo him if I tried,” he would recall years later.  The father shot back, “talk is easy, action is difficult.” The next day, Srikrishna went and joined the Government Law College in Mumbai.

He went on to obtain a postgraduate degree in law from the Government Law College, ranking second in Mumbai University. He had a flourishing practice as a lawyer, dealing in labour issues for over two decades, before moving across the bar to become a judge. After serving as chief justice of the Kerala High Court, the call from the Supreme Court came. 

His deep interest in philosophy, culture, music and education made him a much-respected figure in music sabhas and cultural organisations. He was a trustee of the Shanmukhanda Fine Arts and Sangeeta Sabha, Mumbai. He studied how to play Carnatic music on the violin. He holds a postgraduate degree in Sanskrit, a diploma in Urdu, and a post-graduate diploma in Indian Aesthetics. He also speaks at least seven languages.  

Srikrishna has a thriving practice as an arbitrative consultant and has helped resolve many a corporate battle. He was on the board of the National Stock Exchange till recently and was chairing its nomination and remuneration committee.