By Harihar Swarup
The legal career of Fali Sam Nariman began in 1950, along with the coming into force of the Indian Constitution. In the 74 years for which Nariman and the Constitution co-existed, they were inseparable. From I C Golaknath in 1967, where supreme court held that fundamental rights are beyond the amending powers of the Parliament, to Supreme Court Advocates-on-record vs Union of India case in 2015,where Supreme Court struck down the 99th constitutional amendment to defend the independence of judiciary. Nariman argued and succeeded in cases crucial to the Indian constitution..
Through his long legal career, , he ensured that his long professional success did not come at cost of his fundamental principle and he was that rare personality who straddled the world of extraordinary professional success while being a moral guide to governments, judiciary and the legal fraternity.
While much will be written about the cases he argued, the element of his life which will possibly be well remembered in posterity is his extraordinary engagement as a public intellectual in the last 20 years of his life, when he slowly reduced his court work, simultaneously increasing his public writings—particularly in respect to the Indian Constitution and the legal system. In the years between 2006 and until his passing away, he authored a total of six books, most of which have been best sellers. His most recent book you must know your Constitution was published last year.
This was a tour de force on the political and culture underpinnings of the Indian Constitution, presented in such a lucid style that even a lay person could absorb the complexities of the Indian Constitution. His 2010 autobiography Before the Memory Fades was an exceptional account of his personal and professional life that has inspired lawyers and non-lawyers alike. It is not unusual for lawyers to get application from young law students seeking internships, detailing how one of Nariman's books inspired them to get into the field and how they inspire to be lawyers like them.
In the last many years, he was one of those rare public intellectuals who defended not only the Constitution but also, more specifically, the principle of secularism enshrined in it. In Before Memory Fades, he described the worrisome trend of loss of tolerance within Indian society. His public statements on the 2002 riots in Gujarat or on the appointment of a religious leader as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh were a reflection of his concern that a society where religion, politics and governance are conflated, is a society on a downward spiral. (IPA Service)
