Supreme Court Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat who fought in Karnataka HC defending “Hijab”

“If one is truly spiritual, they have to be secular”: Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat in a candid conversation with LawBeat.

Devadatt Kamat, an alumnus of ILS Law College, Pune and London School of Economics hails from Karwar in Karnataka. He was designated a Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India in 2019. A deeply spiritual person, Kamat is also a philanthropist who believes in giving without advertising about it. Kamat served as the Additional Advocate General of Karnataka at Supreme Court from 2015 to 2019, he has appeared in a number of high profile cases including but not limited to appearing for the Congress legislators in the midnight of May 2018 after the declaration of results of the State Assembly Election. Recently, Kamat appeared and opposed the proposed expansion the commercial port at Karwar, his hometown.
In this interview, Kamat speaks about why he became a lawyer, what made him what he is today and how spirituality helps him maintain his calm amidst the storm.

What brought you to Delhi?
I grew up seeing my father and grandfather, I wanted to be a lawyer but never at the Supreme Court. I was happy go lucky, I wanted to start my practice at Karwar, it is a beautiful place as you know. So I never wanted to shift. After I completed law, my father thought that may be I would become lazy, sitting in Karwar. He had a case in Delhi with Mr. Kailash Vasudev, Sr. Adv, he told Mr. Vasudev that I had passed law and am whiling away mt time. Mr. Vasudev was was kind enough to ask my father to send me to his chambers. So I was per force sent to Delhi and I started working with him. I worked with him for a year.
Recently, you were in the middle of a social media storm, you were being trolled, you were being called names etc. How did you manage to get past all this?

What is Hinduism ? Mahatma Gandhi defined it :
“Hinduism tells everyone to worship God according to his own faith or dharma, and so it lives at peace with all religions.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
This is where my spiritual training helps. I meditate everyday, I follow the tenets of Hindu religion and being a Brahmin, I do Gayatri Mantra, it keeps you grounded. There is lot of noise outside but your spiritual practice keeps you grounded and makes you focus on what you want to achieve in life.
What advice would you give young lawyers?
I think being a lawyer is a great opportunity to stand up for the causes you believe in. Very few career paths offer this opportunity.