Former Advocate General R. Muthukumaraswamy, 69, died at his residence in Chennai on Sunday. He held the coveted post from August 2016 to August 2017.
He succeeded A.L. Somayaji, and was succeeded by incumbent Advocate General Vijay Narayan.
Mr. Muthukumaraswamy was the A-G at a crucial period — when then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was hospitalised, between September 2016 and December 2016.
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He had attended a meeting reportedly chaired by her at the hospital on the Cauvery dispute.
Cauvery case
He was designated as Senior Counsel in 2001 and was appointed Additional Advocate General (AAG) the same year. During his stint as AAG till 2006, he was part of the legal team that argued for the State before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
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Born on December 25, 1948, he studied in various schools in Chennai before obtaining a degree in physics from the Presidency College and a law degree from the Madras Law College.
He enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 1973.
He joined the office of senior counsel R. Krishnamoorthy, considered a doyen of the Madras Bar besides being a two-time A-G of the State — once between 1980 and 1989 and again from 1994-96 — and continued to be associated with him till 2001.
Leading counsel
During that period, Mr. Muthukumaraswamy was appointed as a standing counsel for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and various State universities.
He was appointed Special Government Pleader in 1994 and served as Government Pleader from 1995 to 1996. He was one of the leading senior counsels practising in the High Court and was the president of the Madras Bar Association — one of the oldest in the country, established in 1862 — between 2012 and 2014.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami condoled his death. In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami said Mr. Muthukumaraswamy had won several cases for the State government, and his death was a huge loss to the judiciary.