Courts have always stayed vigilant against Parliament excesses: SC Judge

“The courts have always remained vigilant and controlled any excesses committed by Parliament even in its constituent capacity and I pray that the courts continue to remain vigilant,” said Justice Rohinton Nariman, Judge, Supreme Court of India.

Delivering the first MK Nambyar Memorial lecture on the first Amendment of the Indian Constitution, organised by SASTRA Deemed University School of Law, he stressed on the fertilisation 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 and the Zamindari Abolition Act cases.

Nambyar’s contributions

Recalling the efforts of MK Nambyar in the famous AK Gopalan and Golaknath case before the Supreme Court, Justice Nariman told 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.

Justice Nariman also launched the CS Vaidyanathan Chair on Law & Development, established at the SASTRA Law School, with the support of senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, who explained the genesis and purpose of this endowed Chair.

Former Chief Justice of India, MN Venkatachaliah, urged SASTRA Law School to study the nuanced relationship between law and socio-economic development.

Attorney General KK Venugopal; former Attorney General and Senior Advocate, K Parasaran; and Advocate General, Tamil Nadu, and grandson of Nambyar, Vijay Narayan; and SASTRA Vice-Chancellor S Vaidhyasubramaniam, were among others who participated in the virtual event, according to a statement.

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