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 ENGLISH FINAL PROJECT
Submitted by
Khushi Gupta,PRN 18010224186
Gargi Joshi, PRN 18010224185
Garima Mangla, PRN 18010224187
Saket Subham, PRN 18010224103
Abhishek Kumar Singh, PRN 18010224203
Kartik Kaushik, PRN 18010224202
Utkarsh Bansal, PRN 18010224204
Ocean Verma, PRN 18010224091
Ritika Rathore, PRN 18010224191
DIVISION- B
ENGLISH PROJECT
Symbiosis Law School,NOIDA
Symbiosis International (Deemed University)
In
August,2018.
Under the guidance of
DR. KIRAN DEGAN
Preface
The book entitled “before memory fades” is an autobiographical account
of the life of fali sam nariman, a leading constitutional lawyer and an
internationally known jurist. It gives us an insight about the childhood of
nariman, the starting of his legal career, his success in law and etc.
Wearing black gown, saying order as shown in the movies doesn’t end
the legal career there. There’s much more to it. How do you address your
seniors?, how you start your legal career? The ways in which one can win
a case, the legal professional ethics and much more, nariman answers
some really important questions like these in this book.
He tells that no matter how much you learn, you can never have the
complete knowledge about the topic. Legal profession is such that even if
you reach the highest position you will always learn something new every
day. “ a young lawyer learns simply by osmosis i.e. Being with other
lawyers and imbibing what they say and do”, says nariman.
Table of contents

S no. Content
1 Acknowledgement
2 Synopsis
3 Details
4 Law element existing in the profile
5 Law element as analysed by the readers
6 Conclusion
Certificate

The project entitled “before memory fades” submitted to the symbiosis law school,
noida for english project as part of internal assessment is based on our original work
carried out under the guidance of dr. Kiran sanjay degan from to 28 th august 2018.
The research work has not been submitted elsewhere for award of any degree. The
material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the thesis has been duly
acknowledged.

We understand that we could be held responsible and accountable for plagiarism, if

any, detected later on.

Names of the candidates :

 Gargi Joshi

 Khushi Gupta

 Garima Mangla

 Saket Subham

 Utkarsh Bansal

 Abhishek Singh

 Kartik Kaushik

 Ritika Rathore

 Ocean Verma

Date: 28thaugust 2018

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to symbiosis law school, noida and to project
guide “dr. Kiran degan” for giving us the opportunity to work on this topic. It was simply
impossible for us to work on this project and achieve the results without her guidance, active
support and encouragement. We would also like to acknowledge the support we received from
parents and batchmates.

Name of student - Gargi Joshi

Khushi Gupta
Garima Mangla
Saket Subham
Utkarsh Bansal
Abhishek Singh
Kartik Kaushik
Ritika Rathore
Ocean Verma

Date : 28 august 2018

Synopsis
In the imitation of great and worthy g.k. chesterton , fali s. Nariman writes that he
has been reliably informed unbelieved to be born on tenth day of january 1929 in a
general hospital in rangoon(the capital of burma, now myanmar) .in december , 1941
the japanese bombarded rangoon and acquired burma . Due to this, he along with his
family moved to delhi. He did his schooling from british cotton school , shimla.opted a
ug degree in arts and law. He then started his career at payne & co. As a trainee, and
then joined kanga chamber that posted sir jamshedji b. Kanga, the first chief justice
of india harilal kania and several other prominent lawyers.
In an occasion, fali remembers that when he was just a year old in the bar, nani
palkhiwala had an engagement before the income tax appellate tribunal(itat) , the
matter reached the court. Fali got a golden opportunity to prove himself and he read
the facts of the case. Nani tried to interrupt but changla said “i don’t think, mr.
Palkhiwala, you can add anything more to what mr. Nariman has so well presented”.
These are some of the events that mr. Nariman is nostalgic about.
Before memory fades comments on many cases that has laid the foundation stone of
the indian constitution law some of them are keshavnanda bharti vs union of india
(1973, golaknath vs state of punjab(1967), minerva mills (1980), etc.
It also gives an insight of the national emergency that was imposed by indira gandhi
in 1975. At that time he was the additional solicitor general of india . Fali in his book
also recalls the day of 12 th june 1975 , when justice jagmohan lal sinha of the
allahabad high court disqualified indira gandhi of holding any public office and
declared her guilty of corrupt practises . He was the only public officer who protested
against the suppression of liberties of the people.
On one occasion, he was described as “fallen angel” questioning his reputation as a
human rights activist by tribune des droits humanins. He also recounts when he was
the standing council in the supreme court for the state of gujrat in a pil filed on behalf
of the tribal who were displaced by rising of the height of narmada dam. In december
1998 nariman wrote the brief and said “i would not appear for the state of gujrat in
this or any other matter”.
further more ups and down in his life is mentioned in this book “before memory
fades”. His life is been beautifully depicted by him .

Character sketch
• Sam nariman(father)- his father was having strong political connection along
with that he was a wealthy person. He held a good reputation in the society and
was an educated well being.

• Bapsi f nariman(wife)- she was the staunch supporter, devoted, loving wife .
She was matured and kind hearted.

• Rohinton nariman(son)- successful senior advocate in supreme court(now

judge), his memory of cases, people, and events are phenomenal, and his vast
general knowledge make him a superb lawyer.
 • Anaheeta nariman (daughter)- she is matured like her mother, caring, soft-
hearted, beautiful, genial, and a proud daughter. She was also indulged in social
activity like helping handicapped and differently abled people in bombay.

• A.d. shroff ( boss of his father)- wise and supreme person. And helped
nariman for training under dinsha daji

• Dinsha daji(senior most partner in payne&co) – very kind , old gentleman,

trust worthy, a fine avuncular. Under him nariman took the training and he was
the only person who provided fali prestigious chamber in bombay.

• indra gandhi (prime minister)- she was portraited in a negative manner due
to imposition of national emergency.

• Changla(justice)- agnostic, great jurist, impressive ambassador, well known as

merchant, uniquely secular. He was the judge who gave him the golden
opportunity to prove himself.

Details

The great trek

Nariman was born on the tenth day of january, in the year 1929, at the general
hospital, in faraway rangoon (now yangon). His father’s name is sam and followed the
zoroastrian religion of persia. In 1928, he was posted as the company’s branch
manager in rangoon, where he met and fell in love with banoo burjorjee.

According to nariman, the story of how his mother’s ancestors reached rangoon is of
great adventure. When his mother’s ancestor decided to marry again during the
lifetime of hisfirst wife, his sons protested and left home. Three months later from
then, they foundthemselves at the mouth of the river irrawady. Sailing up that, they
landed in rangoon.there, they earned well and soon ingratiated themselves with the
ruler - king theebaw andgot to run the postal service from him.

The author lived in a double storeyed bungalow. He was the only child of their parents
andhence he describes his childhood as ‘a cloudlessly happy one’. They only came
when he was12 years of age in december 1941, when japanese bombarded rangoon
and then quicklyinvaded and captured burma.

When he was six years old, he was sent to standard 1 of a coeducational school. Later
hemoved on to a regular boys’ school (the diocesan boys school). He also
mentionsw.w.rollins, his class teacher and also his geography teacher. He appreciates
his teachings.

On 7th december 1941, japanese declared war on allied powers after bombarding the
pearlharbour. There was intense bombing, and the author spent most of their time
inmakeshift air-raid shelter in the garden than in bungalow. Then on the advice of the
thengovernor of burma, colonel sir reginald hugh dorman-smith, the nariman family
moved tomandalay. It was thought to be brief sojourn but they were wrong. They
then planned ontaking an overlong journey to india with what they carried to
mandalay on foot.

In early february 1942, they reached delhi and stayed for a while his father’s old
frienddady cooper and his wife rutty.
The author considers his arrival in delhi as a turning point of his life. Soon he was
admittedin the junior cambridge class of bishop cotton school (bcs) in shimla. The
canon of theschool bid farewell to his students who passed out by saying, “my boys, i
wish you all a lifefull of difficulties”. After 80 yrs. He thinks that his words had the
merit of wisdom. Hethought this because according to him when you meet with
difficulties early in your life, theway you handle it becomes your character.

He describes the year 1942-44 of intense political activity in british india. He

reminiscesseeing some of the famous political leaders like sir stafford cripps, pandit
jawahar lalnehru, m.a.jinnah and etc. He also remember being taken along with some
of hisfellowmates to the residence of lord linlithgow to bid him good bye who had the
longesttenure in the history of the raj.

More watching than pleading

the author mentions his next turning point – his joining of the bombay bar in nov,
1950.his father spoke about him to his boss a.d. shroff. He in turn spoke to dinsha
daji, senior most partner in payne & co., the leading solicitor’s firm, and he was
allowed to sit there as a trainee. After working for an year as an apprentice with
kaikobad lala, dinsha daji, helped him secure the chambers of sir jamshedji kanga.
This chamber was built inside the bombay high court.nariman then explains the
architecture of the bombay high court and crates a mockery out of it.

In the chamber of kanga, nariman recalls a table of khurshedji hormasji, fromwhom

he learnt a lot about both law and the legal practice. He also rem9iniscesthe joining of
soli sorabji in the same chamber, with whom he was first a rival,then unfriendly
rivals, but now friends.among the other 6 tables there was also a table of nani
palkhivala. He often had many clients at a time. And at those times the counsel,
client, the solicitor all conferred standing. The apprentices had no table, not even a
chair. Nariman says that the hustle and bustle there trained him to think and work
under the most uncomfortable conditions.

Even after all this commotion, nariman considers that as the happiest years of his life.
At 6:45, on almost working days, sir jamshedji would tell them the stories of old. One
of his junior was harilal kania, later the first chief justice of the independent india was
described as the nice and industrious boy by kanga. After kanga completed 60 years
at the bar, cj mahommedali currim chagla unveiled kanga’s portrait in the bar library.
In his speech on that occasion, he described kanga as the ‘uncut diamond of the bar’.

In an another event nariman recounts appearing in the with jbk and it was kanga’s
last appearance in the court. It was he who was chosen to argue the case, and kanga
only appeared on the hard insistence of his client for nearly 40 years. And with his
luck they won the cae. Nariman regard this appearance in the court as a stellar
performance especially since jbk appeared with him (not vice versa).he also mention
shankar thakore. He was appointed as the gujrat’s advocate general on the state’s
birth, i.e. May 1 1960. He gave an advice to nariman that he still members – a
successful lawyer should not disturb the even order of things.he also recalls that he
learnt quite early that in the profession of law you never stop learning. He narrates
that it was very difficult at the beginning of one’s legal career to follow anything at all
in the court. He remembers going to matrimonial courts when he had no work, which
was often, where no greater depth was required to follow the proceedings. It was
easy to comprehend what was going on and it was spicy and interesting as well.over
the past 59 years at the bar, he says that he has realised that justice is often
unpredictable and many a times unsatisfying.

Lawyers and legal profession

Nariman says that the legal scene in contemporary times has been changed and
judicial review is now the order of the day and nothing is beyond the security of the
courts.he also says that the lawyers image has diminished compared to what it was
before.earlier lawyers were the vanguard of the freedom movement and the
practicing lawyers were the pride of place in our constitution.
He also tries to explain the cause for distrust of the legal profession by explaining that
there is more to be understood than the 'rule of law', if the lawyers are to be
educated, they must be trendsetters inspiring public confidence.nariman remembers
the lines of lord goff said that in germany the professor is god but in england the
judge is god.in india too the judge is god! But we have given much better recognition
to our law teachers so according to him the students are the most important part
which can bring back this distrust.and hence, there is a need for the good law
teachers in a country.
-also acc to him the legal education system appears to have lost its ethical
content.and it can be brought back by 1)urgent need to re-discover and re-affirm the
profession's 'moral foundation's 2)to inculcate ethical principles in the minds of young
lawyers. 3)to promote morally responsible and responsive lawyers.
- re-ethicalization 
- guardian of the society
- need to restore the faith of the ppl in this profession

Judges during and before my time

Nariman says that he was very fortunate to have judges who were very kind and
considerate to juniors.  J.n.h.coyajee, j.sunderlal t. Desai, j.kantilal t.desai and most
importantly chief justice m.c. changla were the judges at that time.
In his earlier days of practicing he and the other juniors used to gather in j.coyajee's
court and when the senior advocates comes he used to say 'what mr. , such a heavy
case, and you are appearing alone?'. This probably gives the chance to the nariman
and other juniors to stand with the senior advocates and earn a small fee.j.sunderlal
and j.kantilal also always praised the junior advocates with appreciation.
Nariman describes mc changla as the brightest, very intellect, very judicial and the
best judge in his time.
One of the instance he remembers was about the- bombay land requisitionact and
income tax appellate tribunal. In this case, the nariman had filed a writ petition by
making an appeal in a sc.one of the judges was j.changla. And opposite to nariman
was the great lawyer mr. Palkhiwala, who at the appearing day was not present at the
time, it gave nariman the opportunity brief the case and present all the relevant facts
of the case,also he presented his arguments very bravely and confidently.and when
j.changla was dictating judgement and mr.palkiwla interrupted at that time changla
said that 'mr. Nariman very ably put forward the same point and i don't think, mr.
Pakhliwala,can add anything more.'
j..m.n. venkatachaliah was another great judge and a great human being according to
nariman.
But before the barman's time the situation was different,  do not use to help the
juniors.one of the instance nariman remembers was about the j.bakkruddin
tayabjee(who letter became the 1st chief justice of india).tayabji use to decide the
case fairly and honourably but his own sons were member of the bar and in every
case that came before him,solicitors in bombay would make sure to brief one of the
sons on behalf of their client.
‌Nariman also talks about the skills and the presence of mind that was required during
his initial dayshe talks about - litigation process,training that was provided to him in
5th year, the presentation of relevant facts written pleadings, relevant evidences,
examination and cross-examination, the answer of the questions that the opponent
might ask .all this involved intense concentration and helped to train the mind by
sharpening.so knowledge of the law alone is not enough it needs certain skills
according to him.
‌He also talks about the commercial act and the some cases related to it ,one was the
potato marchant case which was judged by coyajee and beaumont.nariman through
this case has tried to narrate about the beaumont who was the senior most and most
strict personality.
In,1962 bombay high court was year old and the advocate and scholar p.b. vachha
was to undertake all the work and in the making of the book titled 'famous
judges,lawyers and cases of bombay.'the vachha worked upon it and included the
case of tilak also.also nariman has described about the criticisms by the j.changla and
vachha of their speeches.
And nariman had shifted to delhi in1972.the author had also worked in the matters
when goa and daman and diu were liberated ,bombay rent act.moreover he had
worked in poon court too many a times.

 lesson in the " school of hard knocks"

When law students use to ask how a lawyer must prepare of and  against an
important case . He offers them with the answer " as best as you can". School of hard
knocks " is  a place where seniors use to train juniors how the case is to be dealed. In
the next phase he mentions the do's and dont's during his journey at the bar which he
experienced in last fifty nine years of his profession. His mentionings were as follows-
he asks the lawers to be honest and responsible, they should have good essence of
acquainting oneself with the relevant law including case laws, he suggests the lawyer
to be clear and precise and not confused, then to be remained updated with all the
reported judgement and decisions of the supreme court and the high court, he shares
the best instances that he had heard and asked other lawyers to ponder upon the
legendary vishwanath shastri who practiced in the supreme court of india from the
year 1956 to 1963, he also shared the halsbury's laws of england  which were
discussed in a gathering at kolkata where k.s. shavaksha, he was an expert in indian
trademark law. Parkinson's law is also dicussed in which he mentioned the defination
of 'work', in his understanding which means ' being occupied, not neccessarily paid
work'.

Turnin point of my life

He goes back to a little important turning point of his life . In october,1955 he was
married to bapsi contracter. Sir jamshedji already new about the history of bapsi's
family and gave him detail information about the same to him.he mentioned that
bapsi's paternal grandfather had constructed jamshedji tata's taj mahal hotel in
bombay,he also built the gateway of india. In the next  phase he mentioned about his
wife  saying that the most important thing happened to him in a long married life. He
considered his wife very responsible and effective in contributing like bringing up of
their children  when they were young. He also shared his view regarding how she
looked for a house in delhi after he resigned the post of additional solicitor
general(asg).after that he shared an important turning part of his life which was
during the bar in the bombay. He gave me brief about his very good friend,attorney
dharmsingh popat(senior partner in m/s mulla & mulla, solicitors).in the next serious
of important things which changed his life was golaknath vs state of punjab. It was in
fame because of the becnch of 11 judges were constuted to hear this case. He shared
the instances of the case shankari prasad (air 1951 sc 458), the constitution first
amendment act,1951 , which had inserted article 31b, was challengedas ultra vires
and unconstitutional.he shares the full case analysis of the golaknath vs state of
punjab(1967) and keshwanandabharti vs the state of kerela(1973).

Case that came before him,solicitors in bombay would make sure to brief one of the
sons on behalf of their client.
‌Nariman also talks about the skills and the presence of mind that was required during
his initial days. He talks about - litigation process,training that was provided to him in
5th year, the presentation of relevant facts written pleadings, relevant evidences,
examination and cross-examination, the answer of the questions that the opponent
might ask .all this involved intense concentration and helped to train the mind by
sharpening.so knowledge of the law alone is not enough it needs certain skills
according to him.
‌He also talks about the commercial act and the some cases related to it ,one was the
potato marchant case which was judged by coyajee and beaumont.nariman through
this case has tried to narrate about the beaumont who was the senior most and most
strict personality.
In,1962 bombay high court was year old and the advocate and scholar p.b. vachha
was to undertake all the work and in the making of the book titled 'famous
judges,lawyers and cases of bombay.'the vachha worked upon it and included the
case of tilak also.also nariman has described about the criticisms by the j.changla and
vachha of their speeches.
And nariman had shifted to delhi in1972.the author had also worked in the matters
when goa and daman and diu were liberated ,bombay rent act.moreover he had
worked in poon court too many a times.

Move to delhi

The internal emergency, nariman talks about how he felt during the emergency. One
day after indira gandhi, the then prime minister, imposed the internal emergency,
i.e., on 26th june, 1975, nariman resigned from his post of additional solicitor general
to mark his protest to the unethical move by the then prime minister. Since, the news
was censored and only foreign media published it, it did not even create “ripples” to
the scenario in india.

He recalls how he had to struggle in finding accommodation in delhi post his

resignation. He says that in delhi, people go the way the wind blows. People were
afraid to let out their houses to nariman as he had dared to go against indira gandhi.
He recalls that for several weeks his wife had to hunt for someone who would let his
family in their house. He further recalls a conference, in which he had been invited to
before the emergency was imposed, in capacity of a law officer of the government of
india. Later, the organisers pressed on their request to invite him, in his personal
capacity as a senior lawyer of the supreme court, regardless of the changed 
with such repressive laws, so oppressively implemented, the people looked up to the
courts. But as it ultimately turned out, they looked in vain.”

He further goes on to show how the then attorney general of india in the adm
jabalpur case said that, if his arguments were to stand, a law abiding citizen who was
being targeted by a police officer only because of personal vendetta against the
former, would have no judicial remedy during the emergency. Thus, nariman shows
how the suspension of the fundamental right to life guaranteed under article 19 and
article 21 could lead to making the powers bestowed upon the government and its
officials, unabridged to the extent that there would be absolutely no way to check
abuse of the same. He then asserts that if in a country like india, a law is passed,
which enables the executive to misuse it, the executive will most definitely do it. In
such a situation, he believes it is the court’s duty to not let the people down in such a
deplorable situation and that is why he calls the aforementioned judgment
“deplorable” in itself.
Furthermore, he goes on to praise justice khanna’s dissenting opinion in the famous
judgment. He says that justice khanna’s attempt to hold that right to life and liberty
are natural rights, not rights bestowed upon men by a constitution, but inherent to all
men by virtue of them being humans, cannot be praised enough. He praises justice
khanna for being upright and not bowing down to the tyranny and obvious might of
indira gandhi. He also condemns indira gandhi’s actions of promoting justice beg to
the post of chief justice of india because he was close to him, when clearly, justice
khanna had the best and natural claim to the post.

This establishes that nariman himself was a man of strong will power, who would
condemn whatsoever and whomsoever was wrong, without caring much for the
consequences. Furthermore, it is quite clear that he was a strong critic of indira
gandhi. This also establishes that he has been fairly frank in his autobiography as
opposed to being diplomatic and shrewd like a plethora of other authors.
Circumstance. When nariman reached there, he was told how the organiser’s son, a
law student, had been wrongly detained. Nariman was informed by the anxious father
that his son was detained under the maintenance of internal security act (misa)
because of his opposition to the idea of the teacher’s idea of the entire class going on
a march to support indira gandhi’s 20 – point programme on a weekday, at the cost
of missing classes. This lead to the district magistrate booking the young boy for
being a threat “to the security of the state”. Nariman tells how the bank after “many
anxious moments” was finally returned to the parents.

Some reflections- post emergency

Indira gandhi expressed shock and surprise at the total lack of resistance amongst the
people to the emergency.

Janata government came to power and l.k advani was the information and
broadcasting minister. Advani called mr. Nariman and asked to be the member of the
second press commission.

The new government is being formed under p.k. goswami which got of to a good start
withjustice.
Few months after the second press commission with justice went out and the new
secondpress commission came which was set up by congress government k.k.
mathew was thechairman in the respective second press commission.

In april, the states had filed suits in the supreme court praying for a declaration that
theletter of the home minister was illegal and ultra vires the constitution , and not
binding onthe plaintiffs. The suits were heard and also passed on 29 april 1977.

Nariman has talked about different stages of his life in this chapter whether on
professionalor otherwise. In 1991,he has also talked about his experiences on
occasions. Basically, he isdiscussing about his professional life. In 1995, he was
appointed a councilmember of the human rights institute of the international bar
council. He has also talkedabout his career turnings.

In 1994,he was elected as a member in international council for commercial

arbitration.

The bhopal case

The bhopal case has been discussed in detail which occurred in a factory of uuc’s
indiansubsidiary in bhopal in december 1984. In this mr. Nariman was engaged as
lead senioradvocate and appeared or ucc in the civil litigation.he’s also talking about
the suits in different court in different states of india.

Some reflection the case:

After 20years of the bhopal gas tragedy the arduous task of sifting the genuine from
non-genuine claims is still not over. Some victims were paid but more than 1,500
crores wereaccumulated in the in the bank.this was the world’s worst disaster
according to nariman and other people the suit was fileby the goi in the district court
of bhopal/an ad hoc sum by way of interim relief was granted before any discovery
and inspectionand before the trial and suit.

The action was in tort where english principles applied and england prior to
expressstatutory provisions.discussions are being placed on the case for the damages
and law based on fault as anessential element in tortous liability which moved cycles.

New rules of law were searched which will provide a regime of compensation relief.

Arguments were made regarding human rights by nariman and making sure that
bhopal violated humanity for forever. In conclusion the settlements were just and
reasonable the court omitted o take into certain important heads of compensation
such as cost of medical surveillance of large section of population and etc.

The good and the great

S nariman goes on to narrate about the meeting oh the international commission of

jurists (icj) of 1959 in which the issue of freedom of tibet from the people’s republic of
china (prc) was being discussed. He narrates the incident when six brave tibetans had
gone on a hunger strike in parliament street of new delhi protesting against the
cultural genocide of tibet. Nariman narrates the meeting he had with his holiness dalai
lama at the centaur airport hotel in delhi. S nariman describes the character of dalai
lama and goes on to narrate the efforts he has put in for independence of tibet. S
nariman speaks about the ideologies and behaviour of dalai lama. He describes dalai
lama as a man with childlike humility. He narrates the conversation they had about
the freedom of tibet and how dalai lama spoke all these without uttering a single word
of hate or repulsion about the people’s republic of china. Dalai lama doesn’t seek full
independence for tibet but rather he wants tibet to be a fully autonomous unit of prc.
S nariman remembers the words of gk chesterton in which he said “angle can fly
because they take themselves lightly” and according to him dalai lama is a similar
angle as he is not clever or worldly but a man who is down to earth and simple. S
nariman in his golden words tells as that no matter how strongly a force is applied, it
can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity.

S nariman also narrates his meeting with nobel prize winner mother teresa whom he
met with his wife, bapsi. He speaks about the speech given by mother teressa in 1979
at oslo when the nobel prize was given to her. Mother teresa believed that the most
fundamental of all human rights was the right to live universally. S nariman narrates
an incident from mother teresa’s life when she was in calcutta and was a man who
had eight children who had approached her for food. Mother teresa saw in the eyes of
the children and describes them that they were shivering with hunger and says that
she had never seen anyone so hungry in her life. She took out the rice and distributed
it amongst the family members and kept only a little portion for herself. He recalls the
lights of mahatma gandhi, mother teresa, dalai lama and nelson mandela and tells
that the reason of them being great was because they all had an instinct for goodness
which in inside all of us, its only after we realise it and that’s the reason why good
things like dalai lama and mother teresa happen.

an interlude

In this part of the book, s nariman talks about the phase of his career as a advocate
wherein he appeared as a senior counsel for the state of gujarat. He narrates about
the time when he was asked to appear for the pil filled on behalf of tribals who were
or were to be displaced by the rising height of the narmada dam in gujarat. He goes
back to the time when the pil was pending before the supreme court of india and the
then chief minister of gujarat mr. Keshubhai patel had given him a courtesy call
during which he expressed his concerns over the attacks that were being carried on
the minorities and their bibles were being burned in the state of gujarat. After a
couple of months, some policy decision were to be taken-up about improving
measures of rehabilitations in the narmada case as informed by the chief minister,
meanwhile the conditions of the minorities in the state worsened and now even the
churches were being destroyed and desecrated and the government was not doing
anything about the situation. It was then that s nariman decided he won’t be
appearing for the state of gujarat any further unless the condition of minorities
improved. S nariman tells us about the importance of a free press and if it wouldn’t
have been there, he would have never come across the condition of minorities in the
remote parts of gujarat by living in the capital city of delhi. S nariman tells his readers
about the articles of the constitution under which only the supreme court of india has
the right to decide about inter-state conflicts (article 131), he also tells about the
article under which an inter-state water dispute can be steeled by the parliament
(article 262(1) ). He talks about the narmada water disputes tribunals which was one
of the first tribunals set up under inter-state water dispute act,1956 to decide the
conflict of the sharing of water of river narmada between the states of gujarat,
maharashtra, rajasthan and madhya pradesh, justice v. Ramaswami who was the
chairman of the board worked closely with s nariman and was very keen on gathering
information from all around the world for assisting himself on the case. The question
whether or not a high narmada dam as proposed by the state of gujarat was required
which was being opposed by the state of maharashtra which showed reports of
experts advising for a lower dam. He narrates that after ten rounds of oral and
documentary evidence by the counsels of all the four states, the the final report was
handed down in which a high dam named as sardar sarovar dam was preferred by the
tribunal.he brings to light about the attitude of political parties in these cases as no
political party is willing to concede even a single point to the other state for their own
political advantage. S nariman advocates the need of a strong central government in
cases of inter-state water disputes for their quick and easy disposal. S nariman bring
to light about the ‘three gorges project on the yangtze river ’ of china which on its
completion would be world’s largest hydropower plant in terms of total installed power
capacity and annual power generation. He speaks about the pros ad cons of the
project that even though it would be world’s largest hydropower station, in order to
build it 653 square kilometres of densely populated areas of china would have to be
inundated. He recalls his conversation with a swiss expert on dams, mr. Raymond
lafitte about the ‘ three gorges project’ to which mr. Raymond stated that even
though one million people will be deprived of shelter, this is the price which we have
to pay for future progress. S nariman also states that such a project will never be
possible in india as in contradiction to chinese’s belief of rule-by-law regime in
contradiction to india’s rule-of-law. The reason we would not be able to undertake a
project like the ‘three gorges’ is because here back in india we lay emphasis on
individual citizen’s rights.

can they not perform better than they do ?

In this chapter of before memory fades fali s. Nariman wants to discuss about inter
state water disputes judgement that the cauvery waterway water question offers to
whether and to what degree the supreme court have to manage such issues .
Although the fact that the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956 (isrwda), has
worked , issues over the ravi-beas rivers and the cauvery debate continue.when
supreme court of india gave judgement then karnataka enacting a law of the
seventh schedule of the constitution to enable th state in effect to override an order
passed by karnataka state to decide the quantity of water to be during the pendency
of an adjudication of the water dispute act the the law was questioned by tamil
nadu . Nariman says that this dispute was not an exclusive state subject . He tells
that the interstate water conflicts always been difficult matter in united states in
america in his term the water dispute is defind as any dispute or difference between
two or more states with regard to the interpretation of the terms of such agreement
.in this chapter he also disscuss the rau commission’s view .he tells that india is a
federal or at least quasi federal state he mentioned saome articles also in this chapter
regarding to disputes matters . Finally he told that adjustment in method of working
of interstate water question courts must be accomplished by an adjustment in the
outlook of individuals from the council. He recommend that not disturbing the article
262 which is just empowering , the intersate water question act 1962 to be revoked
by parliament at aleat as a trial measure . As an outcomes , all question between
states would need to be settled just by supreme court of india

About some judges of the supreme court

In this chapter fali s. Nariman discuss about some judges of supreme a court that
how he met them . He consider himself a bit lucky because he himself would describe
as the subba rao era and lived through the krishna iyer era .he tells that in his long
professional career he appeared before many judges of supreme court and high court
some of them are good, excellent and some are wooden-headed .he also told some
of the frivolous stories, era of subbar rao that how he become a puisine judge of the
court became chief justice . His judgements , he talks about golakhnath case ,
keshavanand bharti case and the period of emergency, about languages used and
pre-supersession era.
He talks about some other judges whom he rememberes like justice hidayatullah ,
justice j.c shah and justice a.p shah . He was very privileged when he( justice
hidayatullah) presided over the bench of supreme court as a chief justice of india.
Talks about justice a.p shah that he served asnadvocate general of madhya pradesh
in 1967-1968 .in this chapter basically he talk about judges whom he met them their
some judgements , their nature , their decision making cases .
The finishing canter..
In the last phase he describes the greatest regret in a long, happy, interesting life
which was the intolerance that has crept into our society . At that time hindu tradition
of tolerance was under immense strain.in january 2007 , he was awarded the padma
vibhushan by president ‘ in the recognition of exceptional and distinguished services
in the field of public affairs’. He express that he lived in that country at the sufferance
of the majority. He says that, “i have lived and flourished in a secular india, in the
fullness of time if god wills, i would also like to die in a secular india.

LAW ELEMENT

By abhishek kumar singh:

Rodney brazier has suggested that the monarch can legitimately , if extra ordinary
intervene in the legislative process, example of government bill designed to achieve a
permanent subversion of the democratic basis of the constitution could be vetoed .
Constitution practice( 1994) 2nd edition, pp. 189-192
S.p. gupta vs union of india - 1981(supp) scc, page 87
Supreme court advocates - on - record association and others vs union of india -
1993 (4) scc 441.

By utkarsh bansal:
Article 143- power of president to consult supreme court:
if at any time it appears to the president that a question of law or fact has arisen, or
is likely to arise , which is of such a nature and of public importance that it is
expedient to obtain the opininon of the supreme court upon it , he may refer the
question to that court for consideration and the court may , after such hearing it as
thinks fit , report to the president its opinion thereon.
Special reference no. 1 of 1998-1998 (7) scc 739.
By kartik kaushik:
Article 131 original jurisdiction of the supreme court: subject to the provisions of this
constitution, the supreme court shall, to the exclusion of any other court, have
original jurisdiction in any dispute:
(a) between the government of india and one or more states; or
(b) between the government of india and any state or states on one side and one or
more other states on the other; or
(c) between two or more states,
If and in so far as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or fact) on which
the existence or extent of a legal right depends (provided that the said jurisdiction
shall not extend to a dispute arising out of any treaty, agreement, covenant,
engagement. Sanad or other similar instrument which, having been entered into or
executed before the commencement ofthis constitution). Continues in operation after
sud! Commencement, or which provides that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to
such a dispute.

By ritika rathore and ocean verma

Section 3 of the iswd act, 1956, provides;
Complaints by state governments as to water disputes .. If it appears to the
government of any state that a water dispute with the government of another state
has arisen or is likely to arise by reason of the fact that the interests of the state, or
of any of the inhabitants thereof, in the waters of an interstate river or river valley
have been, or are likely to be, affected prejudicially by:

(a) any executive action or legislation taken or passed, or proposed to be taken or

passed, by the other state;
(b) the failure of the other state or any authority therein to exercise any of their
powers with respect to the use, distribution or control of such waters; or
(c) the failure of the other state to implement the terms of any agreement relating to
the use, distribution or control of such waters.

In candler vs crane, christmas 2’? Co., (1951) 2 kb (kings bench) 164 at 178 and
195, lord denning (then lord justice) delivered a dissenting judgment answering a
plea raised by counsel that no action had ever been allowed for negligent statements,
and want of authority was a good reason against it being allowed in the case being
decided.1md justice denning was not impressed:
This argument about the novelty of the action does not appeal to me in the least. It
has been put forward in all the great cases which have been milestones of progress in
our law, and it has always, or nearly always, been rejected. If you read the great
cases of ashby v. White, pasley v. Freeman and donoghue v. Stevenson you will find
that in each of them the judges were divided in opinion. On the one side there were
the timorous souls who were fearful of allowing a new cause of action. On the other
side there were the bold spirits who were ready to allow it if justice so required. It
was fortunate for the common law that the progressive view prevailed.
By Gargi joshi
Kesavnanda bharati v. State of kerala
The supreme court reviewed the decision in golaknath v. State of punjab and
considered the validity of the 24th 25th and 26th amendments. The case was heard
by the largest ever constitutionla bench of thirteen judges. The bench gve 11
seperate judgements which agreed upon some points and differed on others . Nana
palkhivala and fali s nariman presented the case aginst the givernment in both the
cases. The case was related to the amendment of the basic structure of the indian
constitution.
By khushi gupta
Golaknath v. State of punjab
The court held that fundamental rights cannot be abridged by the parliament by the
procedure given in article 368. The court also clarified that the amendment tot he
constitution is ' law' within the meaning of article 13(2) and is therefore subject to
part 3 of the constitution.
By garima mangla
Indira gandhi v. Rajnarayan
Fali s. Nariman while delievering the first justcie v.r. krishna iyer lecture, cited the
famous raj narain case, in which nani palkiwala's arguments for mrs indira gandhi was
rejected. Clause 4 and 5 of article 329 added through 39th amendement by indira
gandhi during emergency were repelled.
By saket subham
Union carbide corporation vs union of india
It was held that the union carbide corporation was liable for its act and a new concept
of absoulte liablity emerged. The liability of union carbide was fixed at $ 470 million.
It was against the morality and human rights. The union carbide corporation was
found guilty and were subjected to imprisonment and also liable to fine.

CONCLUSION
Fali s.nariman is an internationally known arbitrator and a pre-eminent advocate. His
outlook is greatly venerated by everyone in both judicial and political fields. Before
memory fades is an autobiographical account of his life. It apprises his childhood, the
beginning of his legal career and his success till now.
The author also bestows upon a number of topics like :
The validity of the indian constitution and the attempts to tamper with it as in the
case of forty-second amendment act
The landmark cases like golaknath vs state of punjab, 1967 and kesavnanda bharati
vs state of kerala,1973.
The corruption and how to combat this peril.
The author also silhouettes the measures to restore the credibility of the legal
profession.