FROM A FAMILY DOING BUSINESS OF PALKHIS TO THE RECOGNITION AS ‘THE FAMOUS LAWYER PALKHIVALA’
Nani Adeshir Palkhivala was an Indian jurist and a liberal economist. He was one of the most highly regarded intellectuals of contemporary India. Born on January 16, 1920, and brought up in Bombay, Nani Palkhivala belonged to a middle-class Indian Parsi family.
His parents christened him ‘Nanabhoy’. It was not an earth-shattering event at that time. In later years, he was known as Nani Palkhivala—a household name, not only amongst lawyers but throughout the length and breadth of our country.
The first-generation lawyer, whose recognition is will flow with generations till time immemorial was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
The most interesting part of his story is his ancestors were into the business of making and fixing Palkhis and from there he got his surname “Palkhivala”.
He did his schooling from Masters Tutorial High School, Bombay and then studied in St. Xavier’s College Bombay but he in his lifetime had admitted the fact that the lessons that he and his siblings learnt from their parents could not be imparted by any school or college.
FROM THE STAGE OF STAMMERING TO ONE OF THE FINEST ORATOR OF THE COUNTRY
Despite having the problem of stammering since childhood, he chose to pursue a Master’s degree in English Literature and overcame his speech impediment. He wanted to become a lecturer at the Bombay University but God had his own plans for him. He applied for the position of lecturer but couldn’t make it through and by that time admissions in loads of other courses were closed and for that reason, he opted for law at Government Law College, Bombay.
He entered the Bar in the year 1946 and initially worked under Jamshedji Behramji Kangain in Bombay and within a few years, he made his name in the High Court of Bombay.
He also pursued his wish of teaching by becoming a part-time lecturer in Government Law College, Bombay.
He was so good at teaching, that none of the students ever tried to bunk his lecture because his way of teaching with a lot of humor and wit became quite popular among the students.
He respected the noble profession of teaching so much that he also wrote a famous quote saying –
“Enlightened citizens cannot be produced in the factory – it has to come through education. Thus teachers are the torch-bearers of change, change for the whole nation, change for the whole world.”
He began his practice with taxation laws but later on went to Supreme court and completely indulged himself in Constitutional matters.
Nani Palkhivala was an esteemed member of the First and Second Law commission of India in 1955 and 1958 respectively. He joined TATA Group at the age of 41 in the year 1961and became the director of Tata Sons. In 1975, he was designated an Honorary Member of The Academy of Political Science, New York, in appreciation of his “outstanding public service and distinguished contributions to the advancement of political science.”
In 1978, Palkhivala got the degree of Doctor of Laws from Princeton University, New Jersy USA.
One of Nani Palkhivala’s famous quotes is:
“Education is at the heart of the matter. Literacy is not enough. It is good to have a population which can read, but infinitely better to have people able to distinguish what is worth reading.”
Which shows his belief and interest in writing good literature for the generations to come. His first article was published in a newspaper when he was 13 years old. He authored his first book titled “The Law and Practice of Income Tax” when he was thirty. He was so dedicated in his life that He authored 9 books during his lifetime.
He was honoured with Padma Vibhushan award in the year 1998. He made numerous contributions to the development of the political system in India.
Stamp released to commemorate the 94th Birth Anniversary of Nanabhoy Palkhivala by the Government of India in 2004
BOOKS AUTHORED BY NANI PALKHIVALA
- Law and Practice of Income-tax
- Taxation in India
- The Highest Taxed Nation
- Judiciary Made to Measure
- Our Constitution Defaced and Defiled
- India’s Priceless Heritage
- Essential Unity of all Religions
- We, the people
- We, the Nation.
A DISTINCT PERSONALITY
The answer to this question cannot be given in a few lines. Nani Palkhivala’s biography – Nani A. Palkhivala- A life book, explains various minute details of his life in an exceptionally beautiful manner. His was a man of character. He fought cases for the people of his country in national courts and his country in international forums and never really cared about the fees. His advocacy skills were amazing and his arguing skills and capacity of analysis were much appreciated by everyone throughout his career. His precision of thought and expressing his point with utter elegance and sophistication along with admirable court craft rendered him an irresistible force which was still felt and remembered by one and all on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary on 16 January 2020. People used to come from faraway places to watch him beautifully arguing in front of the court.
He was a man superior to any of his achievements. Inflexible truthfulness and strict discipline were the hallmarks of his personality; even the most vocal opponents to his principles had to concede. He loved his family, his friends, his country, and humanity, as few would do. Justice Khanna once said in a community speech that “If a count were to be made of the 10 topmost lawyers of the world, I do not doubt that Nani’s name would find a prominent mention therein.”
The then Prime Minister Morarji Desai described him as the country’s finest intellectual and public used to call him the keeper of the conscience of the nation. He is a legend because he always stood up for what according to him was right. He used his talents to the fullest and made use of his values. He was so down to earth that he for the right reasons even declined the office of Attorney General of India and judgeship of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
Palkhivala has received recognition from renowned academics. In the book Working a Democratic Constitution by the eminent Granville Austin, the reference to Palkhivala occurs at sixteen pages.
PALKHIVALA: JOURNEY IN LEGAL CORRIDORS
Nani Palkhivala started his career with taxation matters and gradually entered the world of constitutional laws. A lawyer is known not by the number of cases he wins but by the quality of his performance in the case. Palkhivala was a focused man and he had a persuasive style of advocacy which was time and again appreciated by the judges.
In 1963, Palkhivala was offered a seat in the Supreme Court but he declined.
Nusserwanji Balsara vs. the State of Bombay – this was his first participation in constitutional matters and he was the junior-most counsel and unfortunately, he lost this case. But his advocacy skills were highly appreciated after this case.
In the year 1975, Nani Palkhivala agreed to defend the then Prime Minister Smt. Indra Gandhi irrespective of not agreeing with her on many economic policies, when her election to Lok Sabha was overturned by the Allahabad High Court on the grounds of corruption. Palkhivala’s decision to defend her clearly shows his balanced approach and belief that judiciary should not be allowed to dismissed elected official on inadequate grounds. Initially, he got the stay from the court in this matter but just after that emergency was declared by Smt. Indra Gandhi, which according to Palkhivala was an insurrection of the constitution.
He did not hesitate in taking a stand and decided to withdraw himself from the matter. He had a firm character and the ability to stand for what is right.
Palkhivala made some of the most important contributions to the Constitutional jurisprudence of India. He argued in many landmark Constitutional matters.
In the State of Bombay vs. Bhanji Munji[1], the constitutional validity of the Bombay Land Requisition Act was challenged and, Palkhivala was the main counsel for respondents. Despite strong arguments made by Sir Palkhivala, the Supreme Court of India in this matter denied to test the constitutional validity of the Bombay Land Requisition Act.
Sir Palkhivala also played a crucial role in the Bank Nationalization Case.
In the very famous Kesavanada Bharti Case[2] which is also known as the Fundamental Rights case, Nani Palkhivala was played a crucial role. In this case, the amending powers of the parliament to amend the Constitution of India to take Fundamental Rights of the citizen were challenged. Sir Palkhivala showed his exceptionally well knowledge while arguing the matter and the Court held that Parliament could not, in the exercise of its amending power amend the Constitution as to destroy or alter its basic structure.
The Minerva Mills Case[3] was another such achievement of Sir Palkhivala where he fought to protect our constitution from mutilation and ruination of the Constitution of India. Because of his magnificent efforts, the Supreme Court of India declared the provision of exclusion of constitutional amendments from the purview of Judicial review given in clause (4) of Article 368 as unconstitutional.
Nani Palkhivala’s contributions and knowledge were not limited to taxations or Constitutional laws. He was also an expert in economics and labour and industrial laws. His interest in economics led him to the corporate world.
He was also a man of integrity in the corporate world. His annual budget speeches were renowned and kept public captivated.
He was very candid and an influential orator and during the course, he became such an influential personality that in 1983, that annual budget speech was shifted to Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai because there was no other place which could accommodate such large amounts of audience.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNEY
Nani Palkhivala’s contributions and achievements were not confined to India. He represented India internationally as well. He represented India before the Special Tribunal in Geneva appointed by the U.N. to deliver judgment on the matter where Pakistan claimed certain territories in Kutch. After that, he also represented India before the International Civil Aviation Organization at Montreal and later in appeal before the World Court at the Hague when Pakistan claimed the facility of overflying India.
In 1977, Palkhivala was appointed as Indian Ambassador to the United States. Nani Palkhivala was honoured with many awards during his lifetime. He got country’s second-highest civilian award Padmavibhushan in 1998. Many public institutions gave him Lifetime achievement awards, Man of the Year award etc. One of the most important reasons for his fulfilling life was his desire to serve the nation and contribute something to the community. He was the trustee of the trust Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and played a crucial part in guiding their humanitarian and charitable activities. The Nani Palkhivala Arbitration Centre (NPAC) was established by the Palkhivala Foundation to promote institutional arbitration in India, keeping in mind the growing burden on Indian courts and the inordinate delay in disposal of cases.
LAST JOURNEY
C. Rajgopalchari once said about N.Palkhivala that “he is a God’s gift to us”. Palkhivala after going through ill health for around 4 years, took his last breath on December 11, 2002, and definitely left a dent on Indian humanity as stated by former Attorney General of India Soli J. Sorabjee in his article Pakhivala and The Constitution of India.[4].
AUTHOR OF THE ARTICLE ANCHITA SOOD Freelancer, Indian Law Watch Law Graduate from GGSIP University, Enrolled with Bar Council of Delhi. She has published an article on FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES: time to reconsider the eclipsed part of constitution in Volume 11 of Supremo Amicus (ISSN: 2456-9704)
References
[1] AIR1955 SC 41
[2] Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala (1973) 4 SCC 225
[3] Minerva Mills Ltd. v. Union of India, (1980) 3 SCC 625
[4] Soli J. Sorabjee, Pakhivala and The Constitution of India, available at http://www.supremecourtcases.com/index2.php?option=com_content&itemid=1&do_pdf=1&id=670 (accessed on 28th October 2020)
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