Nani A. Palkhivala

Nani Ardeshir Palkhivala was a constitutional lawyer, teacher, and public commentator before becoming India's ambassador to the United States. Born into a Parsi family in Bombay in 1920, he studied English literature at St. Xavier's College and then law at Government Law College. He entered Jamshedji Kanga's chambers in 1944. His legal writing included The Law and Practice of Income-Tax, while his public work extended to the law commissions, annual discussions of the national budget, and the Forum of Free Enterprise. ^{1, 2}

His best known litigation concerned the limits of Parliament's power to amend the Constitution. In Kesavananda Bharati in 1973, he argued that amendments could not destroy its basic structure. The Supreme Court accepted that principle by a narrow majority. His colleague Soli Sorabjee later described their extensive preparation for the case and Palkhivala's subsequent opposition to reopening the judgment. Palkhivala also argued Minerva Mills, another important challenge to the expansion of constitutional amending power. ¹

As ambassador from 1977 to 1979, Palkhivala represented India during the Carter administration's efforts to strengthen nuclear nonproliferation controls. In a meeting with Joseph Nye, he pressed for fuel export licenses for the Tarapur reactors, warning that delays could disrupt electricity supplies, raise transport costs, and damage the atmosphere for Carter's visit to India. He also sought language acknowledging India's position on peaceful nuclear development. He participated in Prime Minister Morarji Desai's June 1978 talks with Carter, whose published communiqué promised continued dialogue over safeguards and fuel supplies. ^{3, 4}

Palkhivala carried his advocacy beyond official meetings. The Forum of Free Enterprise records more than 170 American speeches during his ambassadorship, including appearances at over fifty universities, on subjects ranging from civil liberties and democracy to agriculture and foreign policy. Princeton and Lawrence awarded him honorary degrees. His subsequent work included leadership positions in Tata companies, the Forum, and the A. D. Shroff Memorial Trust, as well as books on constitutional government and India's public life. He died in December 2002. ²