US lawmakers demand Srinivasan confirmation as top court judge

A group of 21 influential US lawmakers has demanded confirmation of Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth Sri Srinivasan's nomination to the country's second highest court.

The demand was made in a letter sent yesterday to the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid by the lawmakers, led by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, in support of Srinivasan's nomination to the DC Circuit Court.

Chandigarh-born 46-year-old Srinivasan, if confirmed, would become the first South Asian to serve as a federal circuit court judge.

His nomination was unanimously been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. He now awaits Senate confirmation, which is expected to vote today.

"Sri Srinivasan would be an outstanding judge for the Court of Appeals. He has worked in the US Solicitor General's office three times – for both Republican and Democratic administrations – and argued 24 cases before the Supreme Court," the Congressmen said in the letter.

"As members of Congress, we value the importance of having diversity on the court. Representation of Indian Americans within our judicial system is overdue," the lawmakers wrote in their letter, which was penned by Bera, the only serving Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress.

Srinivasan is currently principal US Deputy Solicitor General and is a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He successfully worked for both Republican and Democratic Administrations and has bipartisan support from the legal community.

He was first nominated by Obama on June 11, 2012. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, Obama re-nominated him for the same office.