HONOURABLE AWARDEES ABOUT THE AWARD He did his Bachelor's course in chemistry at Presidency college Chennai, Master's degree in Criminology and pursued law at Madras Law College. He completed his Ph.D. at Manonmanium Sundaranar University and was awarded his doctorate in 2018. He worked in the government's Forensic Department as a scientific assistant, from which he later resigned in 1999 to contest polls. He contested the 1999 and 2004 general elections unsuccessfully and won the 2009 general elections from the Chidambaram constituency. He won the 2001 state assembly elections in alliance with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a post from which he resigned in 2004 quoting ideological differences with DMK. He is an author, and has also acted in Tamil cinema.