Palkhivala Memorial Lectures 2003-2019 Selected Speeches

PALKHIVALA Memorial Selected Speeches L ectures 2003-2019 ectures PALKHIVALA Memorial Lectures 2003-2019 Selected Speeches Palkhivala Memorial Lectures 2003-2019 Selected Speeches © Palkhivala Foundation Published January 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechnical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Not for sale Published by PALKHIVALA FOUNDATION No. 22, Karpagambal Nagar, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 044-2498 6697, 044-2498 7145, 044 2498 7745 Email : [email protected] Designed and Printed by COMPUPRINT, Flat C, ARISTO, 9, 2nd Street, Gopalapuram, Chennai 600 086. Email: [email protected] Website: www.compuprint.in Contents Preface …………………………………………………………… 5 A Man for the Common Man Sriram Panchu ………………… 8 SPEECHES The Constitution of India Soli Sorabjee ………………………… 12 The Judicial System: The Need for Urgent Reform and Uniform Civil Code Ram Jethmalani …………………………… 28 Law and Judicial System for the Next Society Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah ……………………… 48 Indian Foreign Policy Challenges in the 21st Century G. Parthasarathy ………………………………… 62 Corporate Governance Y. H. Malegam ………………………… 78 The Diabetes Epidemic: Why, and What We Can Do V. Mohan …………………………………… 94 Mindset to Succeed in a Globally Competitive Economy Raghuram G. Rajan …………… 99 First World People and Third World Politics Jayaprakash Narayan ……………………… 113 Fiscal Prudence v. Public Expenditure S. Narayan ……………… 141 The Challenges Before Indian Policing – the Way Ahead Kiran Bedi ……………………………………… 152 The Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal: What it Means to India M.R. Srinivasan ………………………………… 164 Judicial Activism: Are Courts Overstepping Their Limits? Harish Salve ……………………………………… 181 Good Governance and the Role of the Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde …………………… 204 Revisiting Centre-State Relations Nirmala Sitharaman ………… 217 The Art of Advocacy Lord Peter Henry Goldsmith ……………… 227 Is Cricket Facing a Credibility Crisis? Bishan Singh Bedi ……… 245 India and the World Narendra Modi …………………………… 252 Are We Ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution? S. Ramadorai …………………………… 263 Putting India on the Fast Track Suresh Prabhu ………………… 286 Decoding the Reserve Bank of India and Government of India Relationship Indira Rajaraman ………… 297 Preface Nani Palkhivala, arguably the finest lawyer of his time, passed away on December 12, 2002, in his 82nd year. His was a life of epochal achievements in many fields, law and corporate leadership being the most noted ones. The Palkhivala Foundation, Chennai, a charitable public trust, came into being in February 2003 as an outcome of a few admirers of Palkhivala desiring to perpetuate the memory of this legendary figure. During his time, Nani Palkhivala had, through his highly acclaimed speeches and writings, conveyed to the public many issues he felt strongly about. He particularly championed the cause of free enterprise, advocated decontrol and deregulation, and tirelessly spoke about the need to have a fair, equitable and simple tax system. His annual public lectures appraising the Union budget became the talking point of the nation and attendance at the event held at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, exceeding a lakh of people, has entered the record books for the highest at any public meeting. His articulation, without the aid of any written material, of complex subjects, punctuated with 6 |Palkhivala Memorial Lectures | 2003-2019 facts and figures and laced with inoffensive sarcasm, is unparalleled in the realm of public speaking. He was passionate in his attack of any governmental action that affected citizens’ liberty and eroded personal freedom. Many are the battles he fought in court to uphold the spirit of the Constitution and repel any attempt to alter its basic structure. Considering the contribution of Nani Palkhivala to the building of various facets of public thought and debate, the Foundation felt that its foremost objective should be to hold at least one public lecture annually on a subject of contemporary relevance by an eminent speaker. This endeavour has so far seen 34 lectures* held for the benefit of the general public in Chennai on a variety of subjects of universal relevance by pre-eminent speakers from across a spectrum of expertise. These lectures, to which entry is free, draw large audiences. A unique feature of the lectures has been the fact that many of the speakers had known Palkhivala personally and their speeches often contained interesting experiences and anecdotes concerning him. In response to a request from the public and to commemorate the birth centenary of Nani Palkhivala on January 16, 2020, it seemed appropriate to compile the lectures, starting with the very first one on March 22, 2003, as an anthology. Taking into account various suggestions, the lectures have been edited and abridged for ease of reading. Regrettably, a few of the lectures were not available in the archives of the Foundation and had to be left out. Since in most instances no written material was available, the speeches had to be transcribed from audio recordings and edited and condensed without sacrificing the key content and message of the speakers. The Foundation wishes to thank Sandhya Rao and K. Balaji for undertaking this laborious and challenging task. The lectures also resonate with the personalities of bothN ani Palkhivala and the speaker in question. It goes without saying that they articulate the personal views of the speakers and the Foundation assumes no responsibility for the content. However, should readers find errors in Preface | 7 editing, the Foundation requests that its attention be drawn to these so that the relevant corrections may be made in subsequent editions of the book. The Foundation is hopeful that readers, especially those of the younger generation, will benefit from this effort to provide in a nutshell perspectives on important subjects dealt with by erudite speakers over the last 16 years. These matters remain relevant despite the passage of time. Trustees Palkhivala Foundation Chennai, January 2020 * Please see Appendix A Man for the Common Man Sriram Panchu Nani Ardeshir Palkhivala (1920-2002) was a colossus among lawyers and a giant among men. He combined eloquence with wisdom, sincerity with versatility, vision with achievement. His pride of place in the legal firmament stems from his defence of the rights of the citizen against the Government in the great cases of the 1960s and the 1970s — Golaknath and Keshavananda Bharathi which circumscribed the right of Parliament to affect fundamental rights while amending the Constitution, the bank nationalisation case, rights of minorities to run educational institutions of their choice, the privy purses case, issues of freedom of the press and arbitrary restrictions on newspapers. In each of these he dealt with the matter on hand against the backdrop of the vision of the Founding Fathers, combining unassailable logic with deep learning, to turn out one victory after another. Little wonder then that in her moment of desperation Mrs. Gandhi turned to him to represent her in her appeal before the Supreme Court against the Allahabad Court order setting aside her election for malpractices. And little wonder that he returned her brief when she declared the infamous Emergency. The Government that feared him also respected A man for the common man| 9 him; when India was confronted in international legal forums with Pakistan’s claim to territory in Kutch and its claim to overflight rights over India, it was Palkhivala, the defender of the people, who became the Indian Government’s champion. All arguments before the World Court at The Hague are read from written briefs; since every word matters and there is not a moment to waste. The solitary exception was Palkhivala, who argued orally, brilliantly, and successfully. Years before he became the eminence in constitutional law, Palkhivala was an authority on the law of taxation. Barely four years at the Bar, be brought out the Law and Practice of Income-Tax, which became the defining treatise on the subject. So much so that Chief Justice Chagla, when faced with a knotty tax case would ask, “What does the book say?” In 1958, Palkhivala gave his first public speech on the budget. He did so every year after — and, in short succession, the venue had to be changed from a hotel to the Jehangir Hall and then to the CCI East Lawns and finally to the one-time Mecca of Indian cricket, Brabourne Stadium itself — all to accommodate the crowds that came to listen. He can justly be credited with drawing more people than Gary Sobers in an India-West Indies match because for his Budget speech the galleries overflowed to the entire cricket ground with thousands standing all through the talk. Indeed as was remarked, there were two budget speeches every year — one by the Finance Minister in Parliament and the other by Palkhivala to the public. No prizes for guessing which was the better one. And to top it all, he spoke without a scrap of paper before him while reeling off figures, facts and statistics, quotations and historical references. In later years public demand saw him travelling the length and breadth of the country to deliver his budget speeches to rapt audiences. His writings include, Our Constitution De-faced and Defiled — a book, which not only showed up legislature and executive for default and foul play, but more importantly, sought

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