in philosophy storyAuthor Will Durant, while commenting on the philosopher Schopenhauer and his thought, says, “By Nirvana, the individual achieves peace without will and finds salvation. But after the individual? Life is the death of the individual. “I laugh. That’s how life will be.” Survive him with his descendants and the descendants of others. Even if his little stream of life dries up, there are a thousand other streams that grow wider and deeper with each generation. ” Fali S. Nariman’s memory will never fade. They continue to inspire lawyers, judges, and jurists around the world, and will continue to inspire current and future generations. Nariman was not just a jurist. He was just as universal as constitutionalism.
take Gorak Nath (1967), Kesavananda Bharati (1973) or relatively recent National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Judgment (2015). These seminal judgments share the common anti-majoritarianism that characterizes judicial review in functioning democracies. Nariman contributed professionally and intellectually to these and many other declarations. His opposition to the national emergency had a particularly strong influence on Indira Gandhi’s government. He made the same point by rejecting Gujarat’s brief in the Narmada project case as a sign of protest against the government’s failure to protect the marginalized.
A life dedicated to learning
I was pleasantly surprised when Nariman asked me to convey his appointment to his daughter Tulasi, who was writing a column for the newspaper at the time. Nariman did not look at her. But he read her books very much, even though she belonged to a much younger generation. He encouraged young people on and off the court. Even into his eighties, he continued to listen to people and events and record almost every sociopolitical development. His powers of observation were unparalleled. He was a great orator, prolific writer, and voracious reader. Like his students, he was often found in the Supreme Court’s Second Library underlining passages in case files or jotting down key points from his masterpieces.
Mr. Kaliswaram Raj and Mr. Fali S. Nariman, Supreme Court Second Library, November 2017
Photo courtesy of Kaleeswaram Raj
A staunch secularist and socialist, Nariman was a public intellectual who challenged authority whenever the situation warranted. He believed in the core values of the Constitution and upheld them throughout his life. He absorbed the principles of the Preamble and adhered to them. He once wrote: “Our Constitution cannot survive for long if we just pay lip service to the directive principles of national policy. We must take it seriously. Neglect of the needy poses the gravest threat to our survival as a nation.”current state of the nation, 2013). Nariman was a close friend of Justice Krishna Iyer. It was also an association that shared certain ideological ideas.
idea of equality
In his autobiography, before the memory fades, Nariman wrote, “The legal education system seems to have lost its ethical content,” and appealed to “rediscover and reaffirm the “moral foundations” of the profession.” Many people do not know that Nariman was against the general appointment system for senior positions. Because he believed it went against the very idea of equality. He argued that Article 16, Paragraph 2 of the Lawyers Act, which envisages designating a selected minority as senior citizens, introduces a “caste system” and violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which promises equality before the law. He said it was in violation of the provisions. It is ironic that it took the greatest jurist in this country to stand up for truths that many in the fraternity were unwilling to voice.
In court, Nariman had a calm demeanor but a strong attitude of submission. What was important was the content of the argument, and in his case, the argument often became the conclusion. He never raised his voice in court. Still, his voice will captivate people.
freedom as a cause
Law is, by its very nature, an interdisciplinary subject, and lawyers rarely understand it. Nariman knows this well and has demonstrated the usefulness of his encyclopedic presence. Lawyers need to develop their own personalities. People can’t learn it overnight. The world around us is the source of eternal knowledge. Nariman’s erudition emphasized Justice Holmes Jr.’s famous quote that the life of the law is experience, not logic. So is the life of a lawyer, as beautifully depicted by Nariman.
At a time when the rule of law and our constitutional fraternity face immense threats, we have lost Falih S. Nariman. He will remain forever associated with the cause of the Republic. Albert Camus said, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to be so completely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” Nariman showed it. And he also showed me the way.
(Kaliswaram Raj is a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India)
Disclaimer: These are the author’s personal opinions.