In 2014, Adv. K.N. Subramaniam led arguments before a five-judge Constitution Bench on Article 14 and tax discrimination — one of five Constitution Bench sittings across a career that has made him one of the most distinguished constitutional lawyers of his generation. He was designated Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India in 1998, some sixteen years into a practice built at the intersection of constitutional law and direct taxation.
"The Constitution is not a set of rules. It is a promise made by a people to themselves. My thirty-five years at this bar have been spent holding that promise."
Born in Palakkad, he completed his LLB at Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, winning the university gold medal, before an LLM at Delhi University and a PhD in Constitutional Law from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru — his thesis examined Centre-State legislative relations, a subject that has run through much of his subsequent practice.
His 2010 book, "Constitutional Limits of Taxation in India," is now a standard reference text for practitioners navigating the boundary between Parliament's legislative competence and the rights of individuals and corporations against revenue authorities. A second book, on the separation of powers, followed in 2016.
The Padma Bhushan he received in 2019 recognised a career whose influence extends well past his own casework — forty juniors have trained in his chambers over thirty-five years at the bar, several of whom have themselves since been designated Senior Advocates.
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Member, Bar Council of India Ethics Committee; and Visiting Professor, NLS Bengaluru.
Constitutional & Taxation Law; Legislative Competence & Federalism; and Legal Education & Scholarship.
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