A MENTOR gives guidance, knowledge, encouragement and support, as a result of which the mentee’s progress is fast, orderly and ethical. Subodh Markandeya has all the attributes to mentor our young law firm.

Subodh Markandeya grew up in Jamnagar, now Gujarat and Hyderabad in Telangana. He was educated at the Government City College, Nizam College and Osmania University Law College. He was enrolled as an advocate by the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh on 22-01-1962 and imbibed the elements of civil law practice in the chambers of Mr. Ramkrishen Rao Nimbalkar, leading lawyer in the City Civil Court, Hyderabad. In 1963 Markandeya took master’s degree in law with Constitutional & International Laws. In 1965, he joined the Chambers of Mr. Jagdish Swarup legendary lawyer of Allahabad High Court and later Solicitor General for India, where he got thorough grounding in administrative, constitutional and interpretation laws. He also acquired independently briefs mostly in labour and public services law for the Supreme Court of India.

In 1968 he shifted to Supreme Court as a trainee Advocate-on-Record [AoR] under Mr. R. Vasudev Pillai and was enrolled as the AoR in 1970. His drafting prowess in coal nationalisation cases brought him in close association with Mr. Lal Narain Sinha, the then Solicitor General for India. Markandeya acquired vast practice in diverse legal fields – Customs, foreign exchange, foreign trade, land acquisition, motor vehicles, armed forces, urban planning, sugar-tariffs, essential supplies, education, labour and public services etc. He was at the forefront in organising “All India Convention for the Independence of Judiciary” and the National Convention of Young Lawyers. He took up enthusiastically pro bono cases and during the Emergency worked tirelessly to secure liberty to hundreds of detenues. He vigorously took up the cause of public servants of Telangana who were systematically victimised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Much against his own inclination, he accepted to be Standing Counsel of the Union of India at the persuasion of Mr. Shyam Nath Kaicker, then Solicitor General of India and appeared in cases of prime importance. He was also appointed Standing Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad High Court, various universities, UP State Electricity Board, UP Financial Corporation, UP Jal Nigam, various Development Authorities, Municipal Corporations. He was also Standing Counsel for the Life Insurance Corporation, Bharat Electronics Ltd.

By dint of strategic planning and dedication, Markandeya brought relief to 35,000 Village Officers, 37,000 Government servants and equal number of Archakas of Hindu temples of Andhra Pradesh. By his dedicated efforts thousands of allottees could retrieve their residential plots, industrial and flats from NOIDA and GDA.

Markandeya wrote books on the Customs Act, 1962 [two editions by JAICO and Universal], Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 [JAICO], Imports & Exports [Control] Act, 1947 [N.M. Tripathi], Foreign Trade [Development & Regulation] Act, 1992 [Universal]. He also wrote “SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE – Netaji’s Passage to Immortality” [Arnold].

He drafted the “Constitution of the Commonwealth of Islamic Republics of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan & Pakistan”; an intern in his chambers adapted it as the “Constitution of Commonwealth of South Asian Nations” and presented it at the Indo-Pak Summit at Agra. He also drafted the State of Uttarakhand Act [enacted by Parliament as the Uttar Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2000, Election Laws [Reforms] Act, Uttar Pradesh Land Acquisition for Development Authorities [Special Provisions] Act, House of People & State Assemblies [Special Provisions] Act, Uttarakhand Conservation of Environment and Preservation & Augmentation of Glacial & Forest Resources Act.

Markandeya was appointed as amicus curiae in the famous "Tihar Jail Enquiry Case" and his Report led to prison reforms. He also served as a member of the Committee for Celebration of 50th Anniversary of the Supreme Court of India.