Kalyan Sundaram Biography 
Kalyan Vaidyanathan Kuttur Sunderam, shortly called Kalyan Sundaram and K.V.K. Sundaram, was an Indian civil servant who served as the first Law Secretary (1948–58) of independent India. He also held some administrative posts such as second Chief Election Commissioner of India (1958 – 1967) followed by Chairman of Fifth Law Commission of India during 1968–1971. In 1968, government of India honoured him with Padmabhushan for his overall contributions towards the field of Public Affairs. He was the brother-in-law of artist Amrita Shergill (wife’s sister). His son Vivan Sundaram is a contemporary artist.
Kalyan Vaidyanathan Kuttur Sunderam was born on 11 May 1904 in Kuttur, Madras Presidency during British. His birth place now belongs to Kodagu district of Karnataka. His father worked as a professor. Sunderam studied at Presidency College and Christ Church, Oxford. He first married Laxmi. Following her death, he married Amrita Shergill’s sister Indira Shergill, and artist Vivan Sundaram is their son. He started his training for civil service in the year 1925, and joined the service in 1927.
He first worked in different districts of Madras Presidency. In 1931 he turned a provisional officer in Nagpur. When Government of India Act was implemented in 1935, an elected legislature was set up in the Indian Provinces, and he played a prominent role in it. To reorganize the existing structures of India into linguistically devised states, British commissioned Sundaram in 1936 to prepare this document, which later helped as the basement criteria to divide states based on language, after independence. He rose to the position of Law Secretary in 1948, and when this term ended he became Chief Election Commissioner.
Published: September 18, 2018
Updated: September 18, 2018
