Harish Salve is a well-recognised name among the various influential and powerful personalities that ruled the legal landscape of India and had everyone surprised by their sheer talent and argumentative skills. Salve practices advocacy in the Supreme Court of India and also appears for many high-profile cases in the High Courts. His speciality lies in constitutional, commercial and taxation law. He also represented India in international attributions. He was appointed as the Solicitor General of India in the year 1999 and stayed in the position till the year 2002. This article briefs you with all the details regarding his life, education, and the major cases he appeared for.
Harish Salve’s Personal Life
Harish Salve was born in a Marathi family on the 22nd of June 1955 to father NKP Salve who was a CA and a politician in the INC and mother Ambriti Salve who was a doctor by profession. Salve’s grandfather, PK Salve, was also a renowned criminal lawyer. Hence, he carried chartered accountancy and law in his blood. Salve married Meenakshi Salve in the year 1982 and divorced her after 38 years of marriage in the year 2020. He then married Caroline Brossard who was an artist from London in the same year. His second marriage lasted for three years ending in the year 2023. In the same year, he married Trina Akbar who is the granddaughter of Afghanistan’s last king, in London. His third marriage was a ceremony that was graced by the presence of many significant personalities like Nita Ambani, Lalit Modi, and Moin Qureshi. Salve has two daughters namely Sakshi and Saaniya with his former wife Meenakshi.
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Harish Salve’s Journey from CA to Law
Salve did his schooling at St. Francis DeSales High School located in Nagpur. He then completed his CA degree from ICAI and his LLB degree from Nagpur University. When Salve was young, he wished to become an engineer although by the time he grew up, his interest in Chartered Accountancy grew significantly. His father by then had given up accountancy and was only focused on matters related to income tax which introduced Salve to Nani Palkhivala. Harish after spending significant time with Palkhiwala realised that accountancy bored him. So, he decided to go ahead with practising income tax as a lawyer. When Salve was in mid of his preparations for the CA-Inter Exam, he on behalf of his father prepared a note on the proceedings of the settlement commission that ended up raising new issues that demanded interpretation. This impressed Palkhiwala and he asked Salve when is he planning to join law as a profession. This event proved to be the key turning point of Salve’s professional journey.
Harish Salve’s Significant Career as a Lawyer
Salve appeared in several high-profile cases that had a huge impact on the legal landscape of India and his contributions earned him much praise. The magazine India Today ranked Salve 43rd in the list of India’s top 50 most powerful people in the year 2017.
Harish Salve famous Cases
Salve’s most recent case was when represented the Indian Olympic Association in the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat, an Indian wrestler who reportedly suffered misconduct and unjust disqualification from the Olympic finals.
He came into the limelight when he argued the first anti-dumping case in the Supreme Court. He also often represented big corporations like the Reliance Industries of Mukesh Ambani. He represented Reliance Industries in the case of a legal dispute with Reliance Natural Resources owned by Anil Ambani regarding the supply and pricing of natural gas from Krishna Godavari Basin. The verdict was delivered in favour of Reliance Industries.
Salve also represented Vodafone in its taxation case with the government of India which revolved around the capital gains the company earned after the acquisition of Hutchison Essar which according to Vodafone was not taxable as the deal was not executed in India. He initially lost the case in the Bombay High Court but after his temporary relocation to London in order to focus on the case solely he managed to win in the Supreme Court which declared the verdict in favour of Vodafone giving justice to the company.
He also appeared in the BIlkis Bano case where he represented Bilkis Bano who was a victim of the Gujrat Riots on behalf of the National Human Rights Commission in the year 2003.
He also represented the Tata Group in various matters including the Tata Sons VS Cyrus Mistry case where the Supreme Court removed Cyrus and declared the verdict in favour of Tata Sons. He also often represented Ratan Tata himself.
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Salve also represented famous actor Salman Khan against the state of Maharashtra when he an accused of a hit-and-run case in the year 2003. The Supreme Court declared its verdict in favour of Salman Khan on the basis of insufficient evidence.
Harish also appeared in the International Court of Justice in the year 2017 to represent India in the Kulbhushan Jhadav case where Jhadav received an execution sentence by the military of Pakistan based on the charges of espionage for which he charged only Rs 1 as his fee. In the year 2019, the ICJ declared its verdict in favour of India asking Pakistan to reconsider its decision regarding the conviction of Jhadav.
He also represented Future Retail against Amazon.com where he was advocating the execution of the Reliance-Future merger deal but the court upheld the merger of Future with Amazon.
In his early times, he also assisted his inspiration, Nani Palkhiwala, in the Minerva Mills Private Limited VS the Union of India in the year 1980. He was also enrolled on the Bar in England and Wales. He was then appointed as King’s Counsel in the year 2020.
Harish Salve Net Worth 2024
According to some reports, the net worth of Harish Salve is estimated to be somewhere around Rs 605 Crores and he takes up to Rs 30 Lakh per appearance. The detailed information about his personal assets has not been declared for public scrutiny. However, he is expected to have investments in stocks and funds. The huge amount represents the success of Salve both professionally and financially.
Conclusion
Harish Salve is an eminent figure with exceptional talent and a successful career in the fields of law and taxation. Salve is often called one of the greatest, most experienced, and the richest lawyer in India. Nani Palkhiwala inspired him greatly at a young age and he considers him as his mentor. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in the year 2020 for his magnificent contributions to the field of law. His career serves as a huge inspiration for young minds who wish to follow his path and become future fighters for justice.