New Delhi | Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Thursday paid rich tributes to noted jurist M K Nambyar saying his repeated efforts to highlight the interlinked nature of fundamental rights have borne fruit and become an integral part of Indian jurisprudence.
Born in 1898 in the present-day Kasargod district of Kerala, Nambyar stepped into the legal profession in the 1920s and was an illustrious lawyer of the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court. He died in 1975 and is known for defending the fundamental rights and basic structure of the Constitution.
Speaking at MK Nambyar Memorial Lecture organised by his son former Attorney General K K Venugopal and grandson senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal at Bharat Mandapam here, CJI Chandrachud said Nambyar's ideas were new and unheard of when he first presented them but his interpretations have stood the test of time.
"Legacies are not a function of novelty alone. The reason we are discussing MK Nambyar's ideas today is not only because they were new and unheard of when he first presented them, which they very much were.
"The primary reason is that his ideas and interpretations have stood the test of time. They continued to be relevant through social, legal and political changes until they were elevated from the pages of history and embedded in the legal framework," the CJI said.
Chandrachud added that the legacies of constitutional visionaries such as Nambyar's are embedded in the larger legacy of the Constitution itself.
"Today his repeated efforts to highlight the interlinked nature of fundamental rights have borne fruit and become an integral part of our jurisprudence. In fact, we have moved beyond recognising that fundamental rights gain colour from one another. We have devised tests to balance one right against the other in situations of potential incompatibility," the CJI said.
He referred to the electoral bond case which dealt with funding of political parties and said the court had applied the double proportionality test and struck down the electoral bonds scheme.
"In many ways, it was MK Nambyar's foresight in AK Gopalan (1950 verdict) that lies at the very core of this jurisprudential journey. The idea that a factual situation or state action only creates consequences on one single fundamental right is an unimaginable proposition of law," he said.
The CJI added that the constitution of a country, which is more than mere text, is the foundation of this democratic culture and not the culmination of it.
"It merely stems from the framers' intent, but as Nambyar showed us, it blossoms in the lived realities of its constituents in their specific social contexts. As we celebrate the legacy of MK Nambyar, we must remember that there were many more like him, who left their imprints on the Constitution, enhanced it, infused it with meaning, and took the texts to its legal destiny," he said, amid applause from the audience.
Chandrachud said the legal scholars, lawyers and people who used the Constitution to challenge the status quo and to assert their rights are as much a part of the constitutional order as those who framed it.
"Nambyar's story tells us that the story of the Constitution is a constant dialogue between generations of citizens. This dialogue reflects a dynamic process where each era interprets and applies constitutional principles to contemporary challenges and aspirations.
"It highlights how the Constitution evolves through judicial interpretations, legislative amendments and societal changes, adapting to new contexts while preserving fundamental rights and values," he said.
Highlighting that the continuous dialogue ensures that the Constitution remains relevant and responsive, the CJI said this will reflect the collective vision and aspirations of the people across different epochs.
"Lawyers play an indispensable role in shaping constitutional discourse. While judges have the ultimate authority to interpret the Constitution, it is the lawyers who craft and present the interpretive frameworks for the judiciary to consider. In this sense, interpretation is as much a job of a lawyer as it is of a judge, for without robust legal arguments and advocacy, constitutional interpretation would lack the necessary depth and diversity of perspectives," he said.
The CJI said a thriving democratic order must account for each of them, encourage more assertion, creative interpretation and engagement with our constitutional culture.
Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, who was associated with Nambyar, also paid rich tributes to the noted jurist and lauded the way he used to make his preparation for a case and after carefully observing the judge, would make his arguments according to the judge.
K K Venugopal threw light on the career of Nambyar and how he prepared for the Gopalan case. Krishnan Venugopal presented the vote of thanks.
