The Constitution bulwark man
“There should be ‘three-quarter’s problem-solvers and one-quarter crusaders’, in the higher judiciary”
– Fali Nariman
Indian constitutional lawyer Fali Sam Nariman, during a seven decades career, revolutionised India’s legal system. He protected corporate titans, stood up for human rights, motivated future generations to strive for a fair society and urged jurists to preserve the integrity of our Constitution.
Nariman, born in Rangoon, then Burma, attended Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. Later, after his family moved to Bombay, he graduated in 1950 with a degree in history and economics from St. Xavier’s College and a LL.B. degree from the Government Law College.
In 1950, he began representing clients before the Bombay High Court. In 1971, following 22 years of practice, he was designated as a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court and from May 1972 to June 1975 as Additional Solicitor General of India. He however resigned in protest on 26 June 1975, the day Emergency was declared. For the next twenty years, Nariman led almost every important constitutional law case, even though he held no other government positions.
His greatest influence is seen in the 1993 Second Judges case; the 1998 Third Judges case and the 2015 Challenge to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) – that formed and solidified the Collegium system of appointing judges.
The Gujarat government was represented by Nariman in the case of the Narmada rehabilitation, but he left soon after, following local persecution of Christians and Bible burnings. He represented J Jayalalitha, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in a conviction case on 17 October 2014, and won her bail earlier denied.
In the Bhopal gas disaster case of 1984, which resulted in at least 3,800 deaths, Nariman defended Union Carbide. However subsequently regretting it, he played a key role in negotiating an out of court $470 million settlement between the victims and the corporation.
He was opposed by K. Parasaran, the former Attorney General of India, in the Cauvery River Water Dispute case. There was verbal combat. A member of the Tribunal voiced grave doubts about the two friends’ ability to ever get along. In response, Nariman retorted, “My Lords, this case has brought us even closer. This is eyeball to eyeball right now!”
He served as President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration from 1994 onward, and also held honorary memberships in the International Commission of Jurists from 1988 to 2010 and the London Court of International Arbitration from 1988 to 1989. Nariman received the Padma Vibhushan (2007) and the Padma Bhushan (1991), as well as a Rajya Sabha nomination (1999-2005).
His remarkable legal knowledge and steadfast dedication to justice have made a lasting impact on Indian law, as evidenced by his autobiographical book, ‘Before Memory Fades’ (2012). His works are a gold mine of wisdom. He believed that a functional democracy required the unalienable right to disagree.
He possessed proficiency for distilling the essence of a legal matter from the labyrinth of documents and slow-moving briefs. His objective submissions and emphasis on reliefs made him stand out.
Though impatient and a strict taskmaster with juniors, he was the hardest on himself. Never engaging in any grandstanding, he hated Whatsapp and didn’t even own a smartphone. A cricket lover he would frequently watch a good match in the evenings.
He worked late into the night to complete his written comment in a matter pending on the Constitution Bench. Having several health problems, including heart problems, he passed away in New Delhi on 21 February 2024.
His loss has left the country intellectually poorer. Son Rohinton, a retired Supreme Court judge who served as India’s Solicitor General from 2011 to 2013, daughter Anaheeta, and daughter-in-law Sanaya survive him. His spouse Bapsi passed away in 2020.
A.Radhakrishnan is a Pune based freelance journalist, poet and short story writer.