Senior Advocate Arvind Datar conferred inaugural Fali Nariman Memorial Award

Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar has been conferred the inaugural Fali Nariman Memorial Award..The award was conferred by BITS Law School, Mumbai, under the aegis of BITS Pilani, in collaboration with Surana & Surana International Attorneys (SSIA)..The Fali Nariman Award was instituted to honour the enduring legacy of the legal giant who passed away in 2024. Nariman's contributions to constitutional law, judicial independence, integrity and high ethical standards remain foundational to Indian legal practice. .Watch our 2023 interview with the later Fali Nariman here..Receiving the award, Datar said that instituting an award in Fali Nariman's name is an apt tribute to the legacy he left behind. “Congratulations to BITS Law School for instituting the Fali Nariman Memorial Award. It is indeed a grateful and apt tribute to an outstanding counsel whose life will always be a guiding light to the present and coming generation of lawyers,” Datar said..In his presidential address at the event to confer the award, former Chief Justice of India, Justice UU Lalit said that there is no one who deserves the award more than Datar. delivered the presidential address and said, “We could not have found a more deserving recipient than Mr. Arvind Datar to confer upon him the first Fali Nariman Memorial Award. As a part of the advisory council of BITS Law School, I could not have asked for anything better than being a part of this inaugural event.”.Founding Dean, BITS Law School, Mumbai, Prof (Dr) Ashish Bharadwaj echoed the former CJI's sentiment and added that Nariman's values align well with the vision of the law school as well. Mr Datar’s career stands as a model of thorough legal knowledge especially in constitutional, commercial and taxation laws, unshakable integrity, utmost modesty, high ethical standards, and deep respect for democratic principles — values that this award seeks to honour. From a large number of nominations, the distinguished jury unanimously selected Datar. The values of Mr Fali Nariman align remarkably well with the vision of BITS Law School of becoming an inspirational benchmark in new-age legal education with creativity and empathy.".Managing Partner, SSIA, Vinod Surana added,“Today is a day to not only celebrate the life and contribution of the law legend Mr Fali Nariman but also an occasion to pause and reflect on the values and virtues he symbolized so that we can imbibe these qualities in our quest towards progress and perfection. Values that the BITS law school and my law firm constantly admire and aspire to assimilate.”.Nominations for the award were called for in November 2024. The 76 nominations received were evaluated by a jury comprising former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Sanjay Gangapurwala, Founder of Bhasin & Co., Dr Lalit Bhasin, Senior Advocate Percival Billimoria, Associate Professor at NLSIU, Dr. Aparna Chandra, and General Counsel for Mahindra & Mahindra, Naveen Raju..The award function was followed by a fireside chat on the topic 'Legal Education: Innovative Ideas' with former judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Roshan Dalvi, Senior Advocate Percival Billimoria, and Dr. Aparna Chandra.