Justice B Sudershan Reddy
It is with immense sadness that I received the news of the passing away of Shri. Fali S. Nariman. He was truly a colossus on the legal firmament of India, inspiring many a generation of lawyers, young and old. It would not be unreasonable to say that his passing away has created a hole in the very collective soul of the legal fraternity in this country and far and wide. Truly, the last of the great muses of Indian constitutionalism has moved on, and I am sure to some much deserved calmness and peace to his soul.
From strengthening then independence of the judiciary to safeguarding the rights of minorities, from advocating the necessity of the basic structure doctrine to warning us of a failing system, his contributions have been vast. Truly the measure of the same has not been subject of serious academic and historical research, probably because we do not have such a scholarly tradition in the study of the legal sphere in this country. Nevertheless, I would think few people would find it unreasonable if one were to suggest his life in law would itself be an entire school from which generations of lawyers and judges can continue to benefit from.
High point of my life
One of the high points of my life, as a lawyer and as a judge, was to work with Shri. Fali Nariman on the commission set up by Rajya Sabha to evaluate whether a High Court judge should be impeached or not. The erudition, analytical clarity and wisdom that Shri Nariman brought to our deliberations was of the highest order imaginable. For me, both the deliberations as well as discussions with Shri Nariman were the equivalent of a return to school, in which I learnt to appreciate afresh the philosophical foundations of law, and its intimate relationship to social order and prospects of progress.
I must also share that while we both were working on the Rajya Sabha Commission, Shri Nariman on occasion appeared as a Senior Counsel before the bench I was heading in the Supreme Court. Never did he seek to impose himself on the Court, nor ever seek to intimate to me during deliberations of the Commission that his client might need some special dispensation. In fact, I had to deny relief sought by his Clients, and when I retired he told me that the decisions taken by me were the correct ones, and that he would have had a lesser impression of me if I had decided otherwise or sought to grant him any special favour. Upon my retirement, he invited me to his house for dinner, and it was a momentous occasion of my life – both to be afforded such a privilege and equally to enjoy the incredible culinary skills and hospitality of Smt. Bapsi Nariman (who sadly passed away in 2020), a renowned author in her own right. It must be mentioned that she fully supported Shri. Nariman’s decision to resign as Additional Solicitor General, one day after Emergency was declared in India.
Intelligentsia rationalizes tyranny
Even as I share this sense of a massive hole being formed in my soul, upon hearing the news of the passing away of Shri. Nariman, I recollect the words he penned in an article in the Economic Times in 2013:
“When times are bad, this category – the intelligentsia – is the most deplorable, in all countries. It is the intelligentsia that has both the capacity and the inclination to rationalize tyranny. And so it was in India.”
We must surely count ourselves as fortunate, that this great voice for justice did not remain silent when tyranny cast its dark shadows across the length and breadth of the country. And hope that his life would serve as a guide to the people of this country that personal and social integrity are to never ever be compromised, and that the muses should speak when darkness abounds.
Also read: Nariman, an eminent jurist of courage and integrity
