Nani A. Palkhivala — A Life by M.V. Kamath; Hay House India; Price: Rs.594; 524 pp If you believe that history is biography or a compendium of biographies, when a defining, ideologically unbiased history of 20th century India is written, one of the heroes of that great tome will be the late Nani A. Palkhivala (1920-2002). The great majority of the people — particularly the nation’s youth born in the post-Emergency (1975-76) era — have probably never heard of this lawyer, economist, literateur and indefatigable defender of the Constitution. Yet if today the Indian economy is recording among the highest rates of annual growth worldwide and the nation — or more accurately its prospering middle class — enjoys the freedoms of speech, assembly, trade and fundamental rights, it is in a huge measure due to the unrelenting efforts in the courts of law and public opinion of this extraordinary individual, who devoted an entire lifetime to opposing the whittling down of constitutional freedoms of citizens by self-serving socialist politicians intent upon exercising maximum power with minimal responsibility. The life of N.A. Palkhivala, described by freedom struggle stalwart the late C.R. Rajagopalachari (‘Rajaji’) as “God’s gift to India”, is recounted by veteran author-journalist M.V. Kamath in this detailed and absorbing book, which is highly recommended for comprehending the history of post-independence India, and in particular to those interested in learning how the country has miraculously found its bearings after wandering for half a century in the wilderness of Soviet-inspired neta-babu socialism. It may seem laughable now, but in the tumultuous decade 1967-77 there was a severe threat of abolition of the nation’s constitutional freedoms and fundamental rights, and simultaneous sentencing of the economy to the Hindu rate of growth (3.5 percent per annum) in perpetuity. This outstanding biography details how almost single-handedly, Palkhivala took on the political establishment and waged war on both fronts — legal and economic — thus salvaging valuable constitutional and economic freedoms for the confused citizenry. Contemporary fast-track India which is recording almost double digit annual rates of economic growth owes Palkhivala a deep debt of gratitude, of which this biography is a timely reminder. Perhaps the most prominent landmark judgements in the constitutional history of India were delivered in the Golaknath (1967) and the Keshavnanda Bharati (1973) cases, in which Palkhivala represented the petitioners. In the Golaknath Case, the issue was whether Article 368 of the Constitution which permits Parliament (with a two-thirds majority) to amend the Constitution prevails over Article 13 (2), which mandates that the State shall not enact any laws which alter or abridge the fundamental rights of citizens set out in Article 19. Palkhivala persuaded six judges of an 11-strong bench of the Supreme Court to rule that the fundamental rights of citizens were beyond the amending power of Parliament. It is pertinent to note that Golaknath Chaterji, the petitioner in the eponymous case had protested the expropriation of his agricultural land by the Punjab state government. Therefore when the apex court held that the State had erred…
