Indian-Origin Judge Srinivasan to Lead US Federal Circuit Court

From 2011, Srinivasan served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States.

Srinivasan, 52, became the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

(Photo: US Department of Justice/ Altered by The Quint)

Sri Srinivasan, a prominent Indian-American judge, has created history by becoming the first person of South Asian descent to lead a powerful federal circuit court considered next only to the US Supreme Court.

Srinivasan, 52, became the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

An Obama appointee, who has already been considered for a Supreme Court seat twice, Srinivasan donned the mantle of the chief judge of the DC federal court circuit on 12 February.

Srinivasan succeeded Judge Merrick Garland, who has been a member of the DC Circuit since 1997 and Chief Judge since 2013. He will remain on the bench, a press release said.

Notably, Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court by the then President Barack Obama was blocked by Senate Republicans in 2016. Srinivasan, was appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in May 2013.

He was the first ever Indian-American to be appointed to the second most powerful court of the US.

Neomi Rao, nominated by President Donald Trump, is the second Indian American on this powerful judiciary bench.

According to The Washington Post, Srinivasan spoke recently about his path to the bench at an event celebrating women in the law, a field where men still dominate leadership positions.

Following graduation, he served as a law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the US Solicitor General, and as a law clerk to US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

From 2011 until his appointment to the US Court of Appeals, Judge Srinivasan served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States.

He has argued 25 cases before the US Supreme Court. He has also taught appellate advocacy at Harvard Law School as well as a seminar on civil rights statutes and the Supreme Court at Georgetown University Law Center.

‘History Being Made’: US Senators React on Announcement

Senator Mark Warner of Virigin, who also served as the Vice Chairman of the US Intelligence Committee congratulated Srinivasan on his win.

US Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai said that the appointment is a milestone for Indian-American/ Kansas Community.