Pattabhi Sundar Raman (born 7 November 1960) is an Indian Senior Advocate who is the incumbent Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu. He is the younger son of V. P. Raman, who himself was a former Advocate-General of the State.

Early life and education

Pattabhi Sundar Raman was born on 7 November 1960 in present-day

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. His father V. P. Raman served as the third Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu during 1977-79, and was also a politician from the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

(DMK). Sundar Raman's elder brother is the stage and television actor

Mohan Raman Mohan Raman, also known as Mohan V. Ram (born 3 April 1956), is an Indian actor and writer. In 2017 and 2019, he was a Jury member for the National Film Award for Best Writing on Cinema. Raman is a film historian and writes for ''The Hindu''. H ...

. Sundar Raman did his schooling in Vidya Mandir,

and graduated in

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

from

Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a government aided private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the France, French Jesuits, Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other ...

. Later, he obtained his

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

degree from the

Madras Law College Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), ...

Career

Raman started practising as a lawyer in 1985 and founded the law firm Raman and Associates on the death of his father in 1991. Raman practised in the

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

and the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

and was, in September 2004, designated a senior advocate of the Madras High Court. On 11 June 2006, Raman was appointed Additional Advocate-General in place of R. Mutthukumaraswamy who had resigned.

Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu (2009-11 ; 2024-)

Raman succeeded G. Masilamani to become the 11th Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu on 29 July 2009. In May 2011, he was replaced by

A. Navaneethakrishnan Appasamy Navaneethakrishnan is an Indian politician and lawyer. He is a Member of Parliament, representing Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha the upper house of India's Parliament.He is the leader of the AIADMK party in the Rajya Sabha. He was the ...

. On 12 January 2024, he was once again appointed to the post, replacing R. Shunmugasundaram.

Controversies

When senior politician Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

withdrew from appearing on behalf of Megha Distributors, a lottery promotion agency challenging a lottery ban imposed by the

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

due to criticism from the Kerala state unit of the party, Raman took over the case. This action was severely criticized by the state cabinet and

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. '' De facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Kerala Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites th ...

V. S. Achuthanandan as well as senior Congress politician and

Oommen Chandy Oommen Chandy (31 October 1942 – 18 July 2023) was an Indian lawyer and statesman who served as the 10th chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the Leader of the Opposition, leader of the opp ...

. Eventually, at the advice of M. Karunanidhi, the

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...

, Raman offered to withdraw from the case.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raman, P. S. 1960 births Living people 20th-century Indian lawyers Advocates general for Tamil Nadu