(This story originally appeared in on May 19, 2017)

NEW DELHI: Harish Salve , who led India’s charge against Pakistan at ICJ, is arguably the most expensive lawyer in the country today. But he charged a token fee of just Re 1 to defend Kulbhushan Jadhav , foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had tweeted recently to a carping critic.Those who know Salve well aren’t surprised though. His client list includes the who’s who of India’s corporate world (the Ambanis , the Mittals et al), multinationals such as Vodafone, as well as humbler folk. Salve had represented Vodafone in the Supreme Court when the government sought to tax the deal between it and Hutchison. It’s a different matter that the SC verdict was nullified by the Centre by way of the controversial retrospective amendment.Salve is known to pick up cases which may not be popular, but challenge him intellectually. Also, if Salve is convinced of a person’s innocence, he may fight his/her case for free. Salve has argued for Arushi’s parents — the doctor couple accused of killing their daughter — and Uphaar fire tragedy victims. Those who know the lawyer swear he is a workhorse.Salve, who maintains a punishing routine, travels around the world appearing in high profile arbitration matters, such as the one between the Singh brothers and Daichii.Salve is a favourite with the current dispensation though he was appointed by the Supreme Court as the amicus curiae in the Gujarat riots cases, including that of Bilkis Bano. The NDA government had last reached out to him to appear for it in the apex court in the Aadhaar case.Salve recently appeared in the court for Uber, vociferously defending a COMPAT order to the Competition Commission of India to probe charges of predatory pricing levelled by local operators, such as Meru.Hearings in the WhatsApp privacy policy case were deferred to July to enable him to argue the case of two law students against the company’s alleged inroads into privacy — he insisted it was a fundamental right contrary to what the AG was arguing.Recently, Salve had asked why the government was keen on taking India back to the medieval ages when the AG argued in SC that politicians should be free to say what they want irrespective of the consequences of their statements on the rights of others. The AG was defending the right of UP minister Azam Khan to dismiss the Bulandshahr rape case as a mere figment of imagination.