‘Lawyers in India never retire. They simply drop dead,’ said Fali Nariman. He proved it. He completed his written submissions in a Constitutional Bench case till late night. It was past one hour midnight of February 21, 2024. He quietly passed away in sleep. The light had gone out. The Rule of Law in India lost its warriors. He was a titan of law. The nation lost its ‘Conscience Keeper’. Fali was Nani Palkhivala’s student. When we lost Nani on December 11, 2002, the banner on the Marine Drive in Mumbai proclaimed: We the Nation – We the people have lost a legend. Both the teacher and the student were court-room geniuses. Throughout. Both were unique. Both were incomparable. Matchless. Both made history. Both grew with the Constitution. Both shaped the Constitution. Both were true constitutional czars. We are being governed by the Constitution in the 75th year of the Indian Republic. We owe this to both of them.
In 1987, the US Embassy in India organized a meet of Lawyers, Judges and Academics from India and US in Srinagar. The occasion was the bicentennial celebrations of the US Constitution. Indeed, it was special. I spoke on ‘How Young is the US Constitution’. Constitutions never get aged. They are not a fossil. They are like a plant. They grow with the passage of time. They keep pace with the change of times. The Constitutions are meant to have only birthdays. No death days. I had the joy of meeting Fali. He met very warmly. Compliment me. Thereafter, on different occasions, we met. I saw him in action in court and in conferences. One could always have the fragrance of Fali’s mind. Also, the charisma of his personality. I took out Fali’s three books : Before The Memory Fades, The State of The Nation and God Save The Hon’ble Supreme Court. All the three have his different cover photographs. I kept on looking at them. Two smiling and one not so smiling. All the three reflecting the glow and the towering intellect on his face. The aura of his personality is fully pictured. One could only admire. Feel good. Feel his warmth.
Fali joined the Bar in 1950. He practiced for 74 years. Continued till the last. He never hung up his gown. His voice continued to boom in the biggest court-room with its 40 feet high ceiling till the end. He continued to dominate. Through the medium of arguments in Court-Rooms. Parliamentary interventions. Public lectures. Televised interviews. Newspaper articles and columns. Above all, his books. He educated different generations of lawyers and judges. He was a doyen of the Bar. A paragon. A legend. In his lifetime. Leaving the jurisprudence so enriched by his contributions. He was like a colossus.
Fali was always fearless. He wrote and spoke with candour. He was the guardian of judicial institutions. He argued before the Supreme Court in the NJAC matter. He was asked, whom are you representing? He smiled and said : Independent Indian Judiciary. Fali argued Minerva Mills’ case with H.M.Seervai, Nani Palkhivala and Soli Sorabjee. What a formidable Parsi foursome. We have lost even Fali.
In the Cauvery River Water Dispute matter, K. Parasaran, former Attorney General of India was opposing him. The arguments turned intense. There was a war of words. One of the members of the Tribunal expressed serious concern if the two friends would ever see each other eye to eye. Fali spontaneously replied : ‘My Lords, this case has brought us even closer. Now we see eyeball to eyeball. K Parasaran used to share stories in court. In one of the cases, they were appearing against each other. The case was called. Fali was yet to come. Parasaran started with the story of Guru and Tiger. At that moment, Fali rushed and entered the court. Parasaran remarked : Talk about the tiger and the tiger enters the court hall. Fali, indeed, was a tiger.
The Supreme Court made history in a recent Chandigarh Mayor case. Particularly, in the context of horse trading. Fali on one of the earlier occasions had sharply remarked : using the phrase ‘horse trading’ when humans defect is an insult to horses. Mind you, horses are very loyal animals. So true.
The diligent lawyers work hard on their briefs and read them thoroughly. C.K.Daphtary told Fali : it is better to spend more time thinking about the case then merely reading the brief. You must reflect upon your case. Fali found this advice invaluable throughout his entire life.
Fali always spoke and wrote on the strength of his long experience. His advice to the lawyers was, be humble before the court. Never suppress a fact even if it is against you. Above all, do not ever cite an overruled judgment. I wish to share an interesting and shocking situation. It happened in the neighboring High Court. A case was being argued. The judgment in support was cited by the counsel of the petitioner. The bench was in agreement with the judgment. The counsel for the respondent was to respond after lunch. The petitioner counsel went for lunch. The other counsel stayed back. He picked up the reporter. On the left side, it was written, overruled with the citation. The counsel went to the library. He brought the judgment which had over ruled the already cited judgment. The judge told the counsel, you have no case. No, my lord, my learned friend has relied upon an overruled judgment. This was overruled by this later judgment. He also politely pointed out that my learned friend also knows that the judgment on which he had relied upon had already been overruled. He was so embarrassed. He could not even look up. It was difficult even for the judge to digest such a situation. Fali was so right. The lesson was loud and clear.
Justice Y.V.Chandrachud was Chief Justice of India from 1978 to 1985. Fali was invited to be a judge of the Supreme Court sometime in early 1908s. He was then 53 years old. The offer was for direct appointment from the Bar. This offer was made to him after consulting all the judges of the Supreme Court. In fact, the offer was at their instance. If Fali had accepted, in due course of time, he would have assumed the position of CJI. He would have been CJI for a long time. Fali respectfully declined the offer. Fali never had any regrets for the same. He would have retired at 65. He continued to contribute hugely in many ways till 95. Rich minds live long. Contribute hugely.
Fali was a hard task master with his juniors. This was because he was the hardest with himself. He demanded so much from himself. Therefore, he was demanding from his team. Senior advocate Navroz Seervai was a junior with Fali. He has recorded that one minute, Fali may be screaming at you. The next 10 minutes, he would be praising your contribution. No one felt aggrieved or hurt by his shouting. It was all done out of commitment to the case. Working with him was a learning process. He was a mix and a blend. He was mild. He was warm. He was also ferocious in a conference, if you went unprepared for a meeting with him. Prof Faizan Mustafa has shared a story. He had invited Fali to KIIT Law School in 2008. One of the speakers went on and on. He would not stop. Fali asked him to pass on to the speaker a slip with a note ‘KIS I’. Mustafa did not understand what it meant. He looked at Fali. Fali told, the speaker needs to be told to ‘keep it short, idiot’. Fali has shared a personal experience in his autobiography. It was during the hearing of an appeal in the Supreme Court. Fali harshly interrupted a former Additional Solicitor General of India, Kirti Raval. He was nasty to him. Raval did not say a word. But Justice R.C.Lahoti (not yet CJI) told Fali, it is time for you to retire. Fali admits that the judge was absolutely right. This is how, the hard way, he learnt this lesson. Never to happen again. A lawyer should never lose his temper in court. Self control is the best recipe. Ultimately, he was one of the finest human beings. Everyone truly understood him. He never meant anything negative to anyone.
Fali stayed away from Whatsapp. He did not possess a mobile phone. He had no time to spend on his mobile. He enjoyed cricket. He was a fan of cricket since his younger days. He would often watch a good evening game of cricket.
It is not correct to say that he has left the legal fraternity poorer. He made a living contribution. His contribution will never fade. He was an intellectual giant. He will never die. Only physically, he would not be seen in the corridors of the Supreme Court. His anecdotes were a source of joy. May I say, his whole life was a source of joy. There cannot be another Fali Nariman. His life needs to be celebrated. In the best possible manner. We would fondly miss him.
