Nani Palkhivala was invited to Bar Association in 1946 and served in the chambers of the legendary Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga in Bombay.

and was often the center of attention in the courts, where students of law and younger members of the bar association would arrive to watch him.

Palkhivala's first participation in a case of constitutional significance was in 1951, where he served as the junior counsel in the case Nusserwanji Balsara vs. State of Bombay [(1951) Bom 210], assisting the esteemed Sir Noshirwan Engineer in challenging several provisions of the Bombay Prohibition Act.

Palkhivala had a deep respect, indeed reverence, for both the Constitution of India and for the cardinal principles he saw embedded in it: "The Constitution was meant to impart such a momentum to the living spirit of the rule of law that democracy and civil liberty may survive in India beyond our own times and in the days when our place will know us no more."

The protective umbrella covered more than 250 laws passed by state legislatures with the aim of regulating the size of land holdings and abolishing various tenancy systems.

The Ninth Schedule was created with the primary objective of preventing the judiciary – which upheld the citizens' right to property on several occasions – from derailing the Nehru government's agenda for land reform, but it outlived its original purpose.

In the process it overruled a decision of a Special Bench of 11 Judges, by a majority of 6–5, on 27 February 1967, that "Parliament has no power to amend Part III of the Constitution so as to take away or abridge the fundamental rights" (I.C.

In 1975, shortly after the imposition of the Indian Emergency, bench of 13 judges was hastily assembled, and presided over by Chief Justice A.N.

Ray to determine the degree to which amendments installed by the government of Indira Gandhi were restricted by the Basic Structure theory.

On 10 and 11 November, the team of civil libertarian barristers – led by Palkhivala – continuously argued against the Union government's application for reconsideration of the Kesavananda decision.

On the morning of 12 November, Chief Justice Ray tersely pronounced that the bench was dissolved, and the judges rose.

Not only did Nani Palkhivala interpret the constitution as a message of intent but also saw it as a social mandate with a moral dimension.

In the 1970s, state legislation (education is a subject covered by the Concurrent list in the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution – i.e., both central and state governments can legislate on it) was increasingly encroaching on the rights of minority educational institutions which are protected by articles in the Indian constitution.

Major Gen Nilendra Kumar in his book Nani Palkhivala: A Role Model (published by Universal/Lexis Nexis) has listed 140 prominent cases in which Nani appeared, giving the name of parties, citation, opposite counsels, the name of the judge who delivered the verdict and brief of the law points involved.

Notable cases in the list are PJ Irani, Ujjam Bai, Gujarat University, Article 143 matter on immunity of state legislatures, Keshavnanda Bharti case, Birla Cotton, Bank Nationalization, Privy Purses, Harbhajan Singh Dhillon, Bennet Coleman, St Xaviers College, Indira Nehru Gandhi, Minerva Mills, Mandal case and TN Seshan matter of Chief Election Commissioner.

Although Nani Palkhivala was one of the leading interpreters of constitutional law and a most ardent defender of the civil liberties guaranteed by the constitution, his legacy also includes the aforementioned authoritative book, The Law and Practice of Income Tax, which he co-authored with his mentor Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga.

Former Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee, Nani's friend and colleague for many years, recalls: "His talent in expounding the subject was matched by his genius in explaining the intricacies of the Budget to thousands of his listeners.

He spoke without notes and reeled off facts and figures from memory for over an hour keeping his audience in rapt attention."

But suddenly and inexplicably, I became wide awake at three o'clock in the morning with the clear conviction, floating like a hook through my consciousness, that my decision was erroneous and that I should reverse it before it was too late.

Lawyer, teacher, author, and economic developer, he brings to us as Ambassador of India intelligence, good humour, experience, and vision for international understanding...."[1] In the last years of his life, Nani Palkhivala was severely affected by what may have been Alzheimer's disease.