New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Chief Justice of India U U Lalit Tuesday paid tribute to noted jurist M K Nambyar for his contribution to the judiciary and said the seeds planted by him have grown into a banyan tree under whose shadow every citizen can find solace.

M K Nambyar, an illustrious lawyer of the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court who died in 1975, is known for defending the fundamental rights and basic structure of the Constitution.

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Speaking at the 2nd M K Nambyar Memorial Lecture organised by Sastra Deemed to be University, CJI Lalit said any young law student who begins a journey in law would remember the name of Nambyar.

"I consider it a great honour to be part of today's proceedings as it is a galaxy of persons here in front of whom I started working as a junior lawyer," he said.

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The CJI was speaking on the topic 'Development of Jurisprudence after Gopalan'

A K Gopalan, a communist leader, was detained and he challenged his detention under the Preventive Detention Act. M K Nambyar had argued the matter in the Supreme Court.

Recalling the efforts of Nambyar in the infamous A K Gopalan case of 1950 before the Supreme Court, CJI Lalit said Nambyar had argued so excellently that the six judges, who were on the bench, quoted extensively from his submissions and the lone dissenting note was from Justice Fazal Ali.

The seeds planted by M K Nambyar have now become a part of our constitutional ethos, he said, adding that in this journey from Gopalan to K S Puttaswamy (right to privacy judgment), there were hurdles and Nambyar had to face them but the celebrated dissent by Justice Ali has now been accepted all through.

"The seeds planted by M K Nambyar have now actually resulted in such a huge banyan tree and under the shadow of that tree every citizen can have solace and say with thanks, that very well Mr Nambyar, it is your efforts that the constitutional history has brought us here," the CJI said.

In the case of A K Gopalan, the challenge was the validity of certain provisions of the Preventive Detention Act of 1950.

It was decided in the Gopalan case that free speech and expression were guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and were hence excluded from personal liberty under Article 21.

Justice Ali, in his dissent note from other judges of the bench, had adopted the view that fundamental rights are not isolated and separate but protect a common thread of liberty and freedom.

Former Attorney General K K Venugopal, son of Nambyar, said, "I was extremely happy to hear that the CJI has consented to deliver the lecture in the honour of my father. CJI Lalit is a trailblazer. He has brought significant reforms in the Supreme Court. Changes have been met with positive feedback".

He said his father's cases are still being cited for constitutional cases.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan said there are whispers that the collegium is thinking that they will send recommendations for the appointment of judges only if they are going to be accepted by the government.

"What was sacred to Nambyar and what has been sacred to all of us is the independence of the judiciary. There are whispers in the air and I hope they are not true, of the collegium thinking that they will send recommendations only if they are going to be accepted by the government.

"This, I think, is a very dangerous thought. I hope that this does not ever come to be true. Because if it's true, it necessarily means prior informal consultation. That would mean the very negation of the independence of the judiciary and of the NJAC judgement," he said.

He further said if that is to be done, it would be better to review the NJAC judgement by a larger bench and then have a formal process of consultation, rather than having interviews in this manner.

"Because it is very very topical. I thought I must mention, the CJI is here...," Vaidyanathan said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)