Kalyan Sundaram
| Kalyan Vaidyanathan Kuttur Sundaram | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 11, 1904 Kuttur, Madras Presidency |
| Died | September 23, 1992 (aged 88) New Delhi), India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Known for | Civil Servant |
| Spouse(s) | Indira Sundaram |
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan (1968) |
Kalyan Vaidyanathan Kuttur Sunderam (11 May 1904 – 23 September 1992), also referred as K.V.K. Sundaram, was an Indian civil servant, who holds the record as the first Law Secretary (1948–58) of independent India and second Chief Election Commissioner of India (December 20, 1958 – September 30, 1967). He also chaired the Fifth Law Commission of India for the period 1968–71. He was the principal author of the White Paper which was used to guide the formation of India into states drawn along linguistic lines after its independence. For this, he received personal thanks and high praise from Lord Louis Mountbatten. He was also a Sanskrit scholar, translating for English audiences the works of the Sanskrit writer Kalidasa. A man of humility and discretion, according to The Independent, Sundaram received in 1968 the second highest civilian award which can be bestowed by the Indian Government: the Padma Vibhushan.
Sundaram was native to Kuttur, a village located in the then-Madras Presidency. He was born in 1904, to a professor. An alumnus of Presidency College and Christ Church, Oxford, he registered himself in 1925 for the Indian Civil Services (ICS) training. Sundaram was married twice. His first wife, Laxmi, died in 1934. Afterwards he wed Indira Shergill, the sister of artist Amrita Shergill, who bore him a son, Vivan, who is himself an artist.
Sundaram began his ICS career in the Central Provinces in 1927. He worked first in districts before in 1931 rising to the provincial level as a reforms officer in Nagpur. There, he demonstrated such legal acumen that Judicial Commissioner Sir Robert McNair later commented that Sundaram was one of the few junior legal officers whose recommendations he would take in disposing of cases without appraising it himself.
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