WASHINGTON: In June 2012, President Obama nominated Chandigarh-born legal luminary Srikanth (“Sri”) Srinivasan to the Federal Court of Appeals, the highest-ever judicial appointment of an Indian-American, in what was then seen as putting him on track for an eventual elevation to the US Supreme Court . That unprecedented prospect has bubbled to the surface sooner than expected following the sudden death in Texas on Saturday of Justice Antonin Scalia , 79, reportedly of natural causes.While it may appear indecorous to discuss a replacement even as Scalia’s body returns to the capital, US political and legal circles are agog with the implications of his death. It evens a nine-member Supreme Court bench that typically bent 5-4 in favor of conservatives, with Scalia leaning heavily to the right. It provides Obama with an opportunity to reverse the rightist orientation of the bench, and the President was quick to seize the moment, saying he will “fulfill my constitutional responsibility” to nominate a successor to Scalia.That may be easier said than done. Appointing a U.S Supreme Court judge can be one of the most important legacies of a President given the bench’s power to shape the country’s socio-economic-cultural landscape, with decisions on issues ranging from gay rights to gun control to healthcare. Both parties jealously guard executive and legislative prerogative in this matter, and often a conservative or liberal judge may wait for an ideologically- aligned President and Senate majority before retiring, to enable a political status quo.But the timing of death is not a matter of choice, and Scalia’s sudden demise gives Obama a windfall to bend the apex bench in a liberal direction. Because US Supreme Court judges have lifetime tenure, they are typically replaced when they pass on (less than 50 per cent retire voluntarily). Some Presidents, notably Jimmy Carter, didn’t get to nominate even a single SC Justice.Given such political and ideological implications, Republicans immediately signaled they would block any Obama nomination, saying it should come from the next elected President. "Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement," tweeted Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who as Texas’ solicitor general argued several cases before Scalia.But Obama, who has already nominated two liberal replacements to the Supreme Court bench (Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, both women), is certain to force the issue, adding spice to an already fraught electoral season.Heading almost every short-list in US circles is Sri Srinivasan, particularly since he is one of the few Obama nominees to be have been approved by the Senate when he was elevated to the Federal Appeals Court (he won a unanimous 97-0 vote from the Senate). “Even in the malignant political atmosphere of the contemporary Senate, that margin might make him a safe pick for the Supreme Court. Would Obama nominate a man to replace Ginsburg, and reduce the number of women on the Court to two? Making history with the first Indian-American Justice might tempt him,” legal eagle Jeffrey Toobin wrote in the NewYorker in 2014, amid expectation that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who at 83 is the oldest of the current justices, would bet he one to make way for him.While Srinivasan, 49, appears to be the odds-on favorite for the nomination, an Indian-African-American outsider who makes the shortlist is Kamala Harris, California’s Attorney General who is otherwise tipped to enter the Senate replacing Democrat Barbara Boxer. Other names being discussed in the capital’s legal and political circles include former Attorney General Eric Holder, incumbent Loretta Lynch, and California SC Judge Goodwin Liu.If Obama fails to clinch the nomination for his candidate, there is also the distant but intriguing prospect of Obama himself being nominated by the next Democratic President, although Obama has demurred about his interest in the job.But for now, all eyes are on Sri Srinivasan.Born in Chandigarh and growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, where his parents were academics, Srinivasan received a BA, and later a JD and MBA from Stanford University. He clerked with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and litigated with distinction before the US Supreme Court and the US Courts of Appeals, both on behalf of the United States and in private practice, before President Obama appointed him US Principal Deputy Solicitor General in 2011 (to replace another Indian-American Neal Katyal). He has also taught at Harvard Law School.Tales abound of Srinivasan’s legal mastery, judicial nous, and thoughtful humility. One story goes that the first time Srinivasan argued a case before the high court, he took a single sheet of paper to the podium so he would not appear overconfident. The paper was blank.