H. M. Seervai – Indian Advocate and Great Lawyer of the Commonwealth of Nations*

Abstract

For much of the second half of the 20th century, H. M. Seervai was a leading advocate of the Bombay High Court. He argued some of the most important constitutional cases decided by the Supreme Court of India and in 1970 he resolved to write his Constitutional Law of India. It became the leading text on Indian constitutional law. It is still in widespread use. Many instances of recent citations are quoted. But Seervai’s book is not the usual commentary on the text of the Indian constitutional and case law. Instead, the book contains a running discussion on the shifts in direction, as well as sharp criticisms, where Seervai felt that the courts had strayed from correct constitutional doctrine. Seervai died in 1996 as the fourth edition was just completed. In this article, originally given as a lecture in Mumbai in 2007 on the centenary of Seervai’s birth, the author questions Seervai’s testamentary prohibition on posthumous editions of his text. He urges that a new edition should be produced to keep Seervai’s legacy alive not only in India but in other constitutional democracies where Indian judicial authority is increasingly cited. * Based on the H. M. Seervai Centenary Lecture, delivered at the Bombay High Court, Mumbai, India on 9 January 2007. The original essay was published in Legal Studies. ** The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG is a justice of the High Court of Australia. The author acknowledges the assistance of Adam Sharpe, legal research officer in the Library of the High Court of Australia.