AG Recounts FS Nariman's Praise For Electoral Bonds Verdict & His Hope That Supreme Court Will Strike Down 'No-Bail' Provisions

The Supreme Court today held a Full Court Reference to pay homage to the late Senior Advocate Mr Fali S Nariman, who passed away on February 21.

In his reference speech, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani recalled how Mr Nariman continued to dedicate his life to issues of socio-political concerns till the very end and celebrated constitutional milestones achieved by juniors in the fraternity.

During his speech, the AG cited the comment made by Mr Nariman on the recent Electoral Bonds judgment. AG quoted Nariman's letter as follows :

"I am particularly impressed that the five Judge Bench has held in no uncertain terms that "manifest arbitrariness" in enacted law is now an integral part of Article 1.I do hope that this will enable the Supreme Court at some point in the future - to strike down the no-bail for now provision in recently enacted laws."

 Referring to the above instance, the AG lauded Mr Nariman as a mentor and active spokesman for constitutionalism even in the last leg of his journey. 

The AG stated , "Mr Nariman was alive and active in political and legal developments till he breathed his last. Mr Nariman wrote in the recent judgement of the Electoral Bonds by the Court. This was his youthful reaction to current events"

It may be noted that the above statement of Nariman was contained in his letter written to Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who argued for striking down the Electoral Bonds scheme. Following the death of Nariman, Bhushan had shared the letter in 'X'.

Nariman's efforts as a Member Of Rajya Sabha, as mentioned by the AG were to endeavour to bring improvement in the social lives of citizens through citizen-centric legislations or propositions. 

Nariman during his tenure as a Member of Parliament introduced key private member bills - (1) The Disruption of Proceedings in Parliament Bill 2004; (2) The Judicial Status Bill 2004; (3) The Constitutional Amendment Bill 2004 to amend Article 217 and 224 ; (4) The Representation of People (Amendment) Bill 2004. 

The AG recalled how Nariman personally addressed the matters of socio-legal concern to the executive in order to steer the way for a final outcome. 

" He said he received assurance from the govt to look into the matters of the elderly person, prohibition of contract labour, the public issues relating to Central Vigilance Bill 2003...some of them have become legislative enactments now"  

The legal fraternity both from the bar and bench along with Mr Nariman's family members gathered to reminisce about the legacy and lessons that the Jurist left behind for many to follow.