Justice Nariman launched the C.S.Vaidyanathan Chair on Law & Development established at the SASTRA Law School through the munificent support of Senior Advocate C.S.Vaidyanathan who explained the genesis & purpose of this endowed Chair. Former Chief Justice of India, Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah presided over the event and urged SASTRA Law School to study the nuanced relationship between law and socio-economic development. Attorney General for India K.K.Venugopal was the guest of honour.
Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice-Chancellor of SASTRA welcomed the virtual gathering which in his words was a manifestation of over 300 years of accumulated judicial wisdom in one single stage.
“The Courts have always remained vigilant and controlled any excesses committed by the parliament even in its constituent capacity and I pray that the courts continue to remain vigilant” said Justice Rohinton Nariman, Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Delivering the 1st M.K.Nambyar Memorial lecture on the 1st Amendment of the Indian constitution organised by the SASTRA Deemed University School of Law, he stressed the fertilization of fundamental rights and traversed the constitutional journey of Articles 19, 21, 22, 31(A)& 31(B) and 46 with references to the Romesh Thappar, Brij Bhushan, Motor Transport Nationalisation, Champakam Dorairajan & the Zamindari Abolition Act cases. Recalling the efforts of M.K.Nambyar in the famous A.K.Gopalan & Golaknath cases before the Supreme Court, Justice Nariman enlightened the audience on how his arguments had the legal foresight that laid down the pathway for protecting the basic structure of the constitution in the Kesavananda Bharati case.
Attorney General for India K.K.Venugopal was the guest of honor and in reminiscence spoke on the transformational impact that his father M.K.Nambyar had on his legal profession. Former Attorney General & Senior Advocate K.Parasaran referred to M.K.Nambyar as a lawyer of destiny with spiritual divinity and recalled M.K.Nambyar’s towering arguments before Justice Rajamannar in the Madras High Court. M.K.Nambyar’s grandson and Advocate General for Tamilnadu Vijay Narayan offered his felicitations & complimented SASTRA & C.S.Vaidyanthan for this unique initiative and urged students of law to be inspired by such intellectual jurists.
