Nani Palkhivala gave us Basic Structure doctrine; his lectures attracted more crowd than cricket matches: CJI DY Chandrachud

Eminent jurist late Nani Palkhivala shaped the history of contemporary India through his contributions to law and economics, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said on Saturday. .But for him, India would not have had the basic structure doctrine, the CJI said."Nani’s life has been a witness to the historic traditions and transitions in fields of both law and economics. When I was thinking as to what I should speak on today’s occasion, two personas of Nani stood before me – lawyer and economic thinker. In a way, this lecture is my way of paying personal tribute to the lawyer and economist Nani. Nani was a true constitutionalist and dedicated his entire life to preserving the integrity of the Indian Constitution. If not for Nani, we would not have had the basic structure doctrine in India.," the CJI said.The CJI also underlined that Nani stood for personal freedom and was against the protectionist and license raj policy of then government. "Nani was opposed to the protectionist economic policies of the government. Nani’s fight was not simply against the economic ideology of the day, but it was also against policies which denied people from exercising their liberties", the CJI said..CJI Chandrachud was delivering the 18th Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture organised by the Bombay Bar Association. The CJI in his speech also recounted Palkhivla's lectures and how they were crowd pullers. "In the year 1958, Nani delivered his first post-budget speech at a place now the new wing of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. To accommodate the large crowds, the venue for the speeches was shifted finally to the Brabourne Stadium. During my days of legal practice at the Bombay High Court, I attended Nani’s budget speech at the Brabourne Stadium. The crowd attendance was comparable, and sometimes even more, than the cricket matches between India and England. In fact, cricketer Vijay Merchant once remarked that “Mr. Palkhivala has brought the crowds back to the Brabourne Stadium!" the CJI said..Specifically on his contribution to the basic structure doctrine, the CJI recounted how the hearing happened before the 13-judge bench, the largest ever in Supreme Court."Nani was situated in a unique time of constitutional history — he was leading the Petitioners in the largest ever Bench hearing which ran for the longest period. But this was not without its difficulties. Palkhivala was rather troubled by the barrage of questions directed at him by all the thirteen judges. A 15 young girl accompanied her father to Court to witness the proceedings and after the day’s session, the young girl asked her father 'who was the young man trying to interrupt the thirteen well dressed gentlemen?'. In the end, the hearing lasted for 66 days in the span of five months, and Palkhivala argued for the petitioners for a total of 31 days. By a thin majority of 7-6 judges, the Supreme Court held that while the Parliament had the power to amend any part of the Constitution (including the chapter on Fundamental Rights), the power cannot be so exercised as to alter or destroy the basic structure or framework of the Constitution", the CJI said. The basic structure doctrine was taken to Nepal and Pakistan from us, the CJI further stated..He also recounted how Palkhivala had welcome liberlaisation move of the government in 1991. "In the 1992 post-budget speech, Nani commended the government’s move: 'The proposed integration of India into the global economy has not come a day too soon. The emerging world economy has erased national boundaries. Capital and companies no longer stop at the border. If India is to grow and prosper, it has no alternative but to be integrated into the world economy'", the CJI highlighted in his speech.[Read live coverage of the event below]