21 lawmakers back Chandigarh-born as top US judge

Ahead of an expected Senate vote on the nomination of Chandigarh-born Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan to a top US court, 21 lawmakers have penned their support for him.

Srinivasan, 46, currently principal deputy solicitor general of the US last week won unanimous approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee for his nomination as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the American capital.

"Sri Srinivasan would be an outstanding judge for the Court of Appeals," wrote the lawmakers, including Ami Bera, the lone Indian-American House member, in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

If confirmed by the full Senate, which appears all but certain given unanimous support for him in the judicial panel, Srinivasan, who last August succeeded another Indian American, Neal Kumar Katyal, in his current job would the first South Asian judge on the powerful appeals court, often called the nation's second-highest court.

"He has worked in the US Solicitor General's office three times - for both Republican and Democratic administrations - and argued 24 cases before the Supreme Court," the lawmakers wrote.

"As members of Congress, we value the importance of having diversity on the court. Representation of Indian Americans within our judicial system is overdue," they added.

Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. He received his BA with honours and distinction in 1989 from Stanford University and his JD with distinction in 1995 from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review.

He also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which he received along with his JD in 1995.

He received the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Furthering US National Security in 2003 and the Office of the Secretary of Defence Award for Excellence in 2005.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)