Salman Khurshid – Chamber of Salman Khurshid

Our Founder

Sr. Advocate

Mr. Salman Khurshid

Mr. Khurshid, External Affairs Minister is a renowned Lawyer-Educationist-Writer-Politician who in 1953 was born into a distinguished family of educationists cum national leaders who have served the country with great distinction for over three generations. His maternal grand father Dr Zakir Hussain was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and went on to become the third President of India. His father, Shri Khurshid Alam Khan, was a noted Parliamentarian, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and also Governor of Karnataka and Goa.

He was admitted to the bar in 1977 and designated as a Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India in 1998. Since setting up the foundation of his chamber, he has contributed significantly to shaping the law of the country in having worked on issues of constitutional importance along with path breaking commercial litigation among other fields of law with a high success rate.

Mr. Khurshid

Mr. Khurshid earned his BA (English-Hons) from St Stephens College, Delhi and M.A, B.C.L from St Edmund Hall, Oxford University. Shri Khurshid is an Educationist and served as President of Delhi Public School Society from 1992-2005 and is presently on the Dr Zakir Hussain Delhi College Trust.

Mr. Khurshid started his political career as an Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister’s Office, during the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi in the early 1980s. Later he became the Deputy Minister of Commerce, and then Minister of State for External Affairs from 1991-1996. During this period he was a Member of Parliament from the Farrukhabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh. In the General Election of 2009 he was once again elected as a Member of Parliament from Farrukhabad, winning as a candidate of the Indian National Congress. He became the Union Minister of State with Independent Charge of Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs in the Government of India. Subsequently he was elevated to Cabinet Minister first of Water Resources with Minority Affairs; then Law & Justice and finally Foreign Minister of India.

Mr. Khurshid has been the President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee twice. He was also the President of the Delhi Public School Society and Dr. Zakir Husain Study Circle. He is the author of the play Sons of Babur (Rupa & Co. 2008), which has been staged, (over 25 performances) with Tom Alter in the lead role. He has also been the editor of The Contemporary Conservative: Selected Writings of Dhiren Bhagat published in 1990. Books he has written include Beyond Terrorism: New Hope for Kashmir(South Asia Books 1994), At Home in India: The Muslim Saga (Hay House 2014), The Other Side of the Mountain (Hay House 2016), Justice at Heart: Life journey of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, (Editor 2016), Triple Talaq: Examining Faith (Rupa Publications 2018), Dignity in the Legal and Political Philosophy of Ronald Dworkin (Oxford University Press 2018), Visible Muslim, Invisibile Citizen (Rupa 2019), Judicial Review: Process, Powers, and Problems (Essays in honour of Upendra Baxi) (Cambridge University Press, Editor 2020), The Citizenship Debate (Rupa, 2020), State-State Arbitration and its Role in Entrenching the Rule of Law in the International Legal Community’ in Banerji, G, et al (ed.), International Arbitration and the Rule of Law: Essays in Honour of Mr. Fali S. Nariman (Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)), Co-Author 2021 and Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times (Penguin Books), Author 2021.

Mr. Khurshid studied at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi (B.A. English) and is an Honorary Fellow at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, UK (B.A. Jurisprudence, M.A., B.C.L.). He was also a Lecturer in Law at Trinity College, Oxford.

Academics

1973 : B.A. English (Hons.), St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University
1977 : B.A. Jurisprudence, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University
1978 : B.C.L., St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University
1979 : M.A., St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University
2014 : Elected Honourary Fellow, St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University.

Professional Experience

1977 : Enrolled at the Bar (Supreme Court of India)

1978-80 : Liu Po Shan Lecturer in Law, Trinity College, Oxford University

1981-82 : Worked as Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister Office with Late Mrs.Indira Gandhi (Legislation and Judicial appointments)

1982-89 : Extensive Chamber and Court practice, especially in Commercial, Constitutional, Airline, Press Law and Administrative Law.

1999 : Designated SENIOR ADVOCATE by the Supreme Court of India.

1991-96 : Member of Parliament

2009-2014 : Member of Parliament

2011-2012 : Minister of Law and Justice

2012-2014 : Minister of External Affairs

Publication & Writings

Mr. Khurshid has been deeply involved in writing and acting in plays since his student days in Delhi and Oxford. He is the author of the play Sons of Babur, published by Rupa & Co., which has been staged, with Tom Alter in the lead role, at the Red Fort in Delhi.