Nanabhoy "Nani" Ardeshir Palkhivala (16 January 1920 – 11 December 2002) was an Indian lawyer and jurist. Being lead counsel in cases such as Kesavananda Bharati v. The State of Kerala, I.C. Golaknath and Ors. v. State of Punjab and Anrs., Minerva Mills v. Union of India garnered him international recognition and cemented his reputation as one of India’s most eminent advocates.
Between 1977 and 1979, Palkhivala also served as India's Ambassador to the United States.
Early years
Nani Palkhivala was born in 1920 in Bombay in what was then the Bombay Presidency. His family name is derived from the profession of his forefathers (a common practice among Parsis), who were manufacturers of palanquins ("palkhis").
He was educated at Masters Tutorial High School, and later at St. Xavier's College, both in Bombay. He was reported to have had a stammer. At college, he earned his master's degree in English literature.
After graduating, Palkhivala applied for the position of a lecturer at the Bombay University, but was not awarded the post. He tried to get admission into institutions of higher learning to further his academic career. Since the admission term was closed for most courses, he then enrolled at Government Law College, Bombay.
Entry to the bar
Nani Palkhivala was invited to Bar Association in 1946 and served in the chambers of the legendary Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga in Bombay. He garnered the reputation of being an eloquent barrister. and was often the center of attention in the courts, where students of law and younger members of the bar association would arrive to watch him.
Palkhivala's initial focus was commercial and tax law. Together with Sir Jamshedji, he authored what was then and still is considered to be an authoritative reference tool for tax professionals: The Law and Practice of Income Tax. Palkhivala was 30 years old at the time of the first printing. Sir Jamshedji later admitted that the credit for this work belonged exclusively to Palkhivala.
Palkhivala's first participation in a case of constitutional significance was in 1951, where he served as the junior counsel in the case Nusserwanji Balsara vs. State of Bombay [(1951) Bom 210], assisting the esteemed Sir Noshirwan Engineer in challenging several provisions of the Bombay Prohibition Act. Before the year was out, Palkhivala was arguing several cases himself, but he lost his first case of constitutional importance (a challenge of the validity of land requisition acts) before the Bombay High Court.
By 1954, barely 10 years after his admission to the Bar, Palkhivala was arguing before the Supreme Court of India. It was in his first case before this court (concerning the interpretation of Article 29(2) and Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, which regulates the rights of religious minorities) that he articulated his (later) famous statements on the inviolate nature of the constitution.
To amend or not to amend
Palkhivala had a deep respect, indeed reverence, for both the Constitution of India and for the cardinal principles he saw embedded in it: "The Constitution was meant to impart such a momentum to the living spirit of the rule of law that democracy and civil liberty may survive in India beyond our own times and in the days when our place will know us no more."
Nani saw the Constitution as a legacy that had to be honored while simultaneously being flexible. Quoting Thomas Jefferson, he said, the Constitution must go "hand in hand with the progress of the human mind". He was however a firm opponent of politically motivated constitutional amendments (His favorite quote was from Joseph Story, who said: "The Constitution has been reared for immortality, if the work of man may justly aspire to such a title. It may, nevertheless, perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or negligence of its only keepers, the people.").
The culmination of Palkhivala's success before the Supreme Court came in the famous Kesavananda Bharati vs. The State of Kerala case [AIR 1973 S.C. 1461, (1973) 4 SCC 225]: