In Conversation With Senior Advocate B.V Acharya On His More Than 63 Years' Experience At The Bar
"In Conversation" is a series of interviews by Verdictum with the who's who of the legal fraternity.
Sri. B.V.Acharya was born in Belpu Village of Udupi Taluk on December 20, 1933. His father late Sri. Ramachandra Acharya was a Kannada Pandit and mother Smt. Ratnamma, is a housewife. He completed his early education in Central Ward Municipal School, Car Street and Ganapathi High School, Mangalore. He graduated from St.Aloysius College, Mangalore and obtained B.A degree from Madras University. He studied at Law College ,and obtained a law degree from Madras University.
He was enrolled as an Advocate before the High Court of Mysore on August 29, 1957, after completing his Apprenticeship under Shri.B.Gangadhar Das, then, a leading Advocate in Mangalore. He worked as Additional Public Prosecutor at Mangalore for 4 years. He held the post of District Government Pleader, Dakshina Kannada for 5 years.
In 1972, he shifted practice to Karnataka High Court, Bangalore and Practiced on Civil, Criminal side and Constitutional matters.
He became a member of the Karnataka State Bar Council between 1973 and 1981 and was elected the Chairman of the Karnataka State Bar Council in 1979 and held the said post till 1982. As a Chairman, he strived hard for the establishment of the National Law School of India, University at Bangalore.
In 1980 he attended International Law Conferences in Belgrade and Berlin as a member of the Indian Delegation. Also toured other continental countries to study the legal system there.
In 1982, visited the Republic of China as a member of the Indian Delegation of Advocates and studied the legal system there.
In 1986, he attended the International Law Conference in New York. Also toured the United States to know the judicial system in that country. He is a widely travelled person.
He appeared as Special Public Prosecutor in many sensational cases including the Bhadravati Krishna murder case and the Hunsekote murder case at Kolar. He also appeared before many Commissions of Enquiry including Justice Desai Commission regarding the Gangaram Building collapse, Shri Veerappa Moily Tape Episode and Justice Shiv Shankar Bhat's Commission regarding the Bangalore air crash.
He defended former Chief Minister and Ministers in the JMM Bribery case in New Delhi.
He was designated as Senior Advocate by the High Court of Karnataka in May 1989. In December 1989, he was appointed as Advocate General of Karnataka, for five times.
As the Advocate General, he has appeared before the Supreme Court in many important cases including the Second Judges case, which was heard by a Bench comprising 9 judges. He has also represented the State of Karnataka before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. As an Advocate General, he guided the implementation of the policy of selection to professional courses through CET, which system gained near perfection in Karnataka and said the system was adopted by other states.
He has practiced all branches of law. He has practiced on the original side as well as the appellate side. He has practiced before the Courts at all levels in the country- right from the court of Tahsildar up to the Supreme Court. He has served as Director of the Karnataka Bank for 8 years from 1996 up to 2004.
In 2005, he was appointed as Special Public Prosecutor in the disproportionate assets case against Selvi Jayalalitha, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. This case ended in a conviction which was confirmed by the Supreme Court of India as per judgment dated: Febuary 14,2017.
In 2006, he was honoured by the High Court of Karnataka during its Golden Jubilee celebrations on his completion of 50 yrs of practice at the Bar. In 2007 he was conferred the Essel-Zee TV Award for The Best Legal Service in the State. He is one of the Founder Trustees of Karnataka State Bar Council Law Academy, which was established in the year 2008.
In January 2009, Mangalore University conferred on him Honorary Doctorate recognizing the service rendered by him in the legal field. In December 2009 at the Vishwa Tulu Sammelan he was honored by Dr. Veerendra Hegde of Dharmastala as a Tuluva who has rendered service to the society.
On 29th December 2009 His Holiness Sri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji of Udupi Paryaya Puthige Matt conferred on him the award of "Nyaya Bhushana" for the services rendered in the field of law.
For a term of 3 years (August 2009 to 2012) he served as the Chairman of B.M.S Education Trust, which manages various prestigious educational institutions including three Engineering colleges and one LawCollege.
He served as a member of the 19th Law Commission of India with a term of two years (2010-2012).
In November 2014 his autobiography "All from Memory " was released by the Chief Justice of Karnataka Justice D.H.Waghela in the presence of former Chief Minister Sri M.Veerappa Moily and Sri K.K.Venugopal, an eminent jurist, who is presently the Attorney General for India. In 2014 he was conferred the "Dharmashree Award" by the Dharmashree Trust of Ishwaramangala in the presence of Swamiji of Sri Subramanya Mutt. In 2015 Kilar Gopalakrishnayya Trust of Sampaje honoured him with "Rajatha Sambrama" award. In 2016 during the platinum jubilee celebrations of Akhila Bharatha Madhwa Mahamandala, His Holiness Sri Vishveshathirtha Swamiji of Pejavara Mutt conferred on him the award "Samaja Rathna".
In 2016 Dakshina Kannadagira Sangha (R) has conferred on Sri Acharya the award "Karavali Rathna".
In 2016, as Special Public Prosecutor in the disproportionate asset case against Selvi J.Jayalalitha & others, he argued the appeals before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, which resulted in restoration of the order of the trial court convicting all the accused and sentencing them, except the case against Selvi J.Jayalalith which abated on account of her death.
On 28 October 2017 Sri B.V.Acharya was felicitated on his completion of 60 years of practice at the Bar. The function was Presided over by Justice M.N.Venkatachalaiah, former Chief Justice of India with Justice L.Nageshwara Rao, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Justice P.Vishwanatha Shetty, Hon'ble Lokayukta as the Chief Guest.
Since 2016 the Bar Association of India has been honouring 10 leading Advocates of the country by presenting them the "Lawyers of India Day Award". For the year 2017, Sri B.V.Acharya is one of the Advocates who was conferred with the said award in the presence of Sri K.K.Venugopal, Attorney General for India and Sri Fali S.Nariman, leading Advocate of the country.
In 1960 he married Laxmi Acharya. His daughter Pushpalatha and son B.L.Acharya are practicing Advocates in the High Court of Karnataka. His second son Subramanya Acharya is a music lover and he works for a private broadcasting organization
Presently, at the age of 85, Sri B.V.Acharya is in active practice before the High Court of Karnataka.
The interview is embedded above and can also be viewed here.
