Top Ten Criminal Lawyers in India

Sometime back a lot of buzz was created when Actress Rhea Chakraborty had engaged Adv. Satish Manishinde as her defense counsel in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case. She was https://bestcriminallawyersinbangalore.com/ being attacked and criticized by media and social media for hiring an expensive celebrity lawyer like Mr. Manishinde.

This made a lot of us wonder, about who are the top Bigshot criminal lawyers in our country. India is home to some of the very prominent and big gun lawyers who can hold the entire court in awe with their fabulous arguments and skills.

Here is a list of the top ten criminal advocates in India, the list is prepared based on official newspaper rankings; Senior advocate designation; landmark and famous cases which have helped in the development of law and society; pro-bono and scholarly work; awards and accolades and last but not the least, the fee they charge.

Gopal Subramanium
One of the youngest lawyers to be designated as Senior Counsel at the Apex Court, Gopal Subramanium is a name every aspiring new law entrant knows and aspires to be like. He was a junior to renowned Advocate Mr. Soli Sorabjee. He was appointed as the Solicitor General of India in the year 2009 and represented the Government of India in various cases relating to the criminal matters.

His criminal law feats include appointment as the Special PP in the Ajmal Kasab case[i]; Counsel for the government in the 2G spectrum case[ii]; Special Public Prosecutor[iii] in the infamous high-profile Jessica Lal Murder case.

Everything comes with a price and in the business of justice, the price may be much higher especially in criminal matters where a bit hither and thither can lead an innocent to suffer and the criminal to be set free. Mr. Gopal charges around 5.5 16.5 lakh per appearance[iv] which makes him one of the most expensive criminal lawyers in the Delhi circuit.

In 2009, he was awarded the National Law Day Award for Outstanding Jurist, by the government for his immense contribution in the field of law.[v]His name was being considered by the Law Ministry for being lifted to the bench from the bar, but things did not work in his favor and he couldn’t bag the Supreme Court ticket, with the Law Ministry citing professional misconduct being the primary reason for doing so.[vi]

Sidharth Luthra
Known to be the finest criminal lawyer in India, the next lawyer on our list is ex- Additional Solicitor General[vii] and Senior Advocate Mr. Sidharth K Luthra. He has completed his M Phil in criminology from University of Cambridge[viii]. Mr. Luthra is one of the few senior lawyers in India to be specializing in criminal law. Earlier he used to practice on the civil side but later he shifted his gears on the criminal side under the junior ship of late Senior Advocate PR Vakil.

Mr. Luthra has been a part of various milestone criminal law cases, some of which are Tehelka Case[ix]; Facebook Case[x]; Arun Jaitley defamation case[xi]; he was appointed as a Special Public Prosecutor in the Delhi Gangrape Case[xii]. He is also regularly appointed as an Amicus Curiae in various criminal and Corporate Criminal Liability cases by the Supreme Court.

Luthra & Luthra Law Offices and Campus Law Centre, Delhi annually organizes the celebrated KK Luthra Memorial Moot Court Competition[xiii] which is a very popular legal event among law students across India. It is said that “with great power comes great responsibility” and Mr. Luthra proves this right, approximately 40% of his cases are pro bono but for the rest of them he charges not less than 4-5 lakh ₹ per hearing.[xiv]

KTS Tulsi
“For them a Brahmin is above the law!” are popular lines said by the person second on our list. He is Mr. KTS Tulsi, a 72-year-old advocate cum politician from Punjab. In the early part of his life, he was into teaching and academics and later started his practice in criminal law. He is the sitting president of the Criminal Justice Society of India[xv] and has various feathers to his cap when it comes to the cases in which he has been involved in.

Mr.Tulsi is still a writing addict and has tons of books and publications to his name. He is closely associated to the Indian National Congress Party and has fought and won various crucial cases for the Gandhi family, be it the Rajiv Gandhi murder case or the Vadra-DLF land case, Mr. Tulsi has been a loyal party man.

He charges hefty fees from his clients which is somewhere around 5-6 lakh ₹ per appearance, but he is also known for his pro bono work.[xvi] In 2015, In an RTI filed by NDTV, it was found out that the Haryana government had paid him a colossal 5.5 crore ₹ in the Maruti plant workers case. Mr. Tulsi charged ₹ 11 lakh per appearance in the lower courts.[xvii]

Sushil Kumar
It is said to ‘never judge a book by its cover’ and this metaphorical phrase perfectly fits for this advocate. One of the leading criminal lawyers in the country, Mr. Sushil Kumar is the only lawyer seen in a sherwani in the corridors of the apex court. Senior Advocate Sushil Kumar or ‘the sherwani clad’ as he is popularly known as, is one of the premier criminal lawyers in the country.

Some famous and controversial cases to his name are 2G scam case; Common Wealth Games scam case; or the Parliament attack case.[xviii] “There are many who can get notice on an appeal but when it comes to final arguments on merits, one needs Kumar to get an acquittal” say his juniors. Mr. Kumar charges anywhere around 5-6 lakh ₹ per appearance[xix] with a guarantee to get an acquittal.[xx]

Shanti Bhushan
Also known as the savior of the Indian Constitution, next on our list is the former Law Minister and Senior Advocate Mr. Shanti Bhushan. His son Advocate Prashant Bhushan is also a designated senior advocate at the Supreme Court Bar. In 2009, the father-son duo had featured in the most powerful Indians list published by The Indian Express[xxi]. This 94-year-old stalwart charges not less than 4.5-6 lakh per appearance[xxii] with about one-fourth of his cases being done on pro bono basis. During his tenure as a Law Minister, he had introduced the 44th Constitutional Amendment which had repealed several unconstitutional provisions of the 42nd Amendment done by the then PM Mrs. Gandhi. He was also the counsel for Mr. Raj Narain for the case which changed the facet of Indian Democracy. He has represented various well-known faces in corruption and bomb blast cases. Currently, he and his son are facing several contempt of Court charges for criticizing the judiciary.[xxiii]

Ujjwal Nikam
Next on our count is a Z+ security lawyer[xxiv] and Padma Shri[xxv] awardee Advocate Mr. Ujjwal Nikam. The criminal law specialist and the master of the court, Mr. Nikam is a man of few words. He is known for his calm but articulated cross-questioning and argumentation. In the span of his 30-year wide career, he has secured a record 6 death penalties[xxvi] and more than 300 life imprisonments.

He is in great demand as a Special Public Prosecutor by the State and Central governments when it comes to crucial rape and murder cases. His notable appearances include the famous Gulshan Kumar[xxvii] and Pramod Mahajan Murder[xxviii] case; Marine Drive rape case[xxix]; Mumbai gang-rape case.[xxx]He enjoys media publicity and is very well knows how to use it in his client’s favor, for example in the case against Ajmal Kasab, he used the media to incite public outrage to influence the trial.

He has also represented India at the UN convention on terrorism in 2010.[xxxi] When we talk about his litigation costs, it is startling to know that Mr. Nikam is very budget-friendly for his clients as he charges about charges ₹10 thousand for one hearing, whereas, the criminal lawyers of his caliber charge ₹5 lakh per hearing.

Satish Manishinde
If one Googles about the best criminal lawyer in Maharashtra the one name that will definitely pop up is the Celebrity Lawyer Mr. Satish Manishinde, also known as the ‘Elsewhere junior of Ram Jethmalani’. He had recently made headlines when he was chosen to represent Miss Rhea Chakraborty, who has been accused of various criminal charges in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case.[xxxii]Also, he has been appointed as a Special Public Prosecutor in the Palghar Mob lynching case.[xxxiii] His golden period started after he tasted success in the Bombay blast case trial[xxxiv].

From a penniless law graduate from Karwar to one of the city’s top-notch lawyers, Satish Maneshinde’s has been a long, strange journey. He had worked for 10 years under Mr. Jethmalani and learnt the art of advocacy from the legend. His notable cases include Shoban Mehta’s match-fixing case; Salman Khan Drink-drive case, Chotta Rajan MCOCA case and many other high profile cases[xxxv]. He is one of the most costly criminal lawyers in the country at the moment, charging about 10 lakh ₹ per hearing.