Romance with jurisprudence

DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW - Essays in Honour of Nani Palkhivala; Venkat Iyer - Editor; Butterworths India, C-71A, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 425.

A FESTSCHRIFT in honour of Nani Palkhivala is a delightful gift. A multi-faceted person, of abundant lovable qualities, of bubbling humour that fetched him many forensic triumphs, one can go on without pause. Naturally tributes will touch on these subjects close to him.

Many and that includes me, knew him as a great lawyer, not in the serious mould of an Alladi or Seervai, but one who argued well, good humoured and used a gentle rapier to get your foe down, taking care not much blood was shed.

And even his enemies were disarmed by his sense of fairness and gentle humour. And above all a lawyer who paid his taxes, a rare virtue not merely in this country but also elsewhere.

One expected the range of subjects in this excellent bunch of essays to be far wider, to reflect the full personality of Nani. Some words about his knowledge of business that made him a better lawyer, the annual budget ``speeches'' that enthralled enormous crowds, more than the painful rituals in Parliament, would have been welcome.

Of course what we have in this volume is great stuff and would be eagerly read by students and professors, lawyers and judges and lay men and even some politicians, for the contents are so educative and interesting and written by very eminent persons.

Not that there are no deficiencies in this collection. For one, Public Interest Litigation could have been more exhaustively dealt with to meet the arguments of the diehard conservatives opposing it.

Why, our former President, R. Venkataraman, was not too enthusiastic, not realising that but for PIL, the fundamental rights would have been the preserve of the rich and the powerful, and the real vital Articles, especially Article 21 of the Constitution would not have reached the ``Little man with the little pencil, making a little mark on a little piece of paper.''

Absent PIL, the average Indian's personality would have been drastically diminished. And men like Nani Palkhivala would have then lived and fought in vain. Yet this is a book that fills a vacuum and opens many windows.

The author deserves our gratitude. The publishers as usual have done a good job in producing this book.

V. R. LAKSHMINARAYANAN

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