Why is it in the News?

Recently, eminent jurist and senior advocate of the Supreme Court Fali S Nariman died at the age of 95.

Who was Fali S Nariman?

• Fali S Nariman was born on January 10, 1929, in Rangoon, then part of British India.
• He began his legal career by enrolling as an advocate of the Bombay High Court in November 1950.
• His stature grew, and he was designated as a senior advocate in 1961.
• In 1972, he moved to New Delhi to practise in the Supreme Court of India.
• In May 1972, Nariman assumed the role of additional solicitor-general of India; however, he resigned a day after the Emergency was imposed on June 26, 1975.
• He also served as the president of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration and chaired the Executive Committee of the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, from 1995 to 1997.
• His son, Justice Rohinton F Nariman, formerly served as a judge on the Supreme Court.
• Nariman received the Padma Bhushan in January 1991 and in 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.

What Were Some of Nariman's Landmark Cases?

• The Golak Nath case: In the historic judgement, the Supreme Court held that the Parliament cannot make a law which is capable of infringing the fundamental rights of citizens.
  • It came up after two brothers in Punjab challenged the Constitution (17) Amendment Act, 1964, which came into effect by amending Article 31A of the Constitution. (This article deals with the acquisition of estates).
  • Nariman, not only supported the petitioners but also appeared to argue on the issue representing the intervenors in the case.
  • They argued that Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 did not include articles contained in Part III of the Constitution dealing with fundamental rights.
  • Following the hearing of the case submitted in 1967, an eleven-judge bench agreed with the petitioner’s submissions pointing out that Article 13(2) states that Parliament cannot make a law which infringes fundamental rights.
• The Kesavananda Bharati case: The Kesavananda Bharati case is known for setting a benchmark in the Indian judiciary and had Nariman’s prompt representation in the SC.
  • He assisted noted Advocate Nanabhoy Palkhivala in the famous case that led to the path-breaking judgement laying down the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution, clipping Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution.
  • The 1973 verdict simultaneously gave the judiciary the authority to review any constitutional amendment on grounds of violation of the basic structure of the Constitution.
• The Bhopal Gas Tragedy case: In 1984, the Bhopal gas tragedy where 42 tons of toxic chemicals leaked from a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Limited, resulting in thousands of deaths and environmental damage in the following years.
  • The Supreme Court began hearing the case for compensation to the victims in 1988.
  • Senior Advocate Nariman appeared, representing Union Carbide, and offered to pay a sum of 426 million dollars as compensation to the victims of the tragedy.
  • In 1989, Union Carbide settled with the central government and agreed to pay 470 million dollars as compensation.
• The Cauvery Water Dispute case: Nariman represented Karnataka for over 30 years in the water-sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu.
  • In 2016, the Supreme Court ordered the Karnataka government to release 6,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from September 21 to September 27.
  • The Karnataka legislative assembly, however, passed a resolution stating that they did not have water to spare and chose to defy the court’s orders.
  • Due to this non-compliance, Nariman refused to argue the case on behalf of the Karnataka government any further.
  • On February 16, 2018, the court in its final judgement took note of Nariman’s stance on the issue and necessarily mentioned that Nariman had courageously lived up to the highest tradition of the Bar.
  • The court then proceeded to reduce Karnataka’s annual water releases to 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) from 192 TMC.
• Disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa: AIADMK leader and former- Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha had been accused of misappropriating funds during her tenure between 1991 and 1995.
  • A Sessions Court in Bangalore in September 2014 found that she had acquired property disproportionate to her known income and imposed a Rs 100 crore fine on her.
  • This sentence was upheld by the Karnataka High Court a month later leading to an appeal at the Supreme Court.
  • Nariman appeared on behalf of Jayalalitha in October 2014 and convinced the court to grant bail against executing the fine and suspend the sentence passed by the Sessions judge in Bangalore.
• The 1981 Second Judges case: The Supreme Court held that the primacy of the Chief Justice of India’s recommendation in judicial appointment and transfer can be turned down on cogent grounds by the government.
  • However, the judicial discussions finally led to the creation of the collegium system of appointment of judges to constitutional courts in 1993, when the top court came out with its judgement in the second judge’s case.
  • Nariman had stated that the advice given through consultation with the CJI must be seen as binding to protect the independence of the judiciary, as judges would be in a better position to determine the suitability and competence of candidates.
  • In 1993, the nine-judge bench agreed with Nariman’s arguments and established the Supreme Court Collegium.
• The COVID-19 case: Nariman represented the Parsi community in its dispute over the protocol and standard operating procedure for handling of dead bodies of Parsi Zoroastrian COVID-19 victims under which metallic nets were to be installed above ‘Tower of Silence’ so that birds did not feed on the corpses and carry the killer virus elsewhere