Rule Of Law: A Foundational Principle Or A Fragile Promise?

Full Text of 'Barrister M.K. Nambyar Law Lecture, 2025' delivered by Dama Seshadri Naidu, Senior Advocate on the topic "The Rule of Law: The Foundational Principle or a Fragile Promise?"Hon'ble Mr. Justice CS Dias, Judge, High Court of Kerala, Shri Justice Siri Jagan, the former Judge of High Court of Kerala, Shri Gopalakrishan Kurup, the Advocate General of Kerala High Court and Member of the Endowment Committee, the respected Vice Chancellor, Prof. GB Reddy, Shri Gopala Pillai, EC Member, Shri Manoj Kumar, State Attorney, Shri Unnikrishnan, the Special Senior Government Pleader, the Registrar Ms. Lina Mathew, the Faculty of the NUALS, all the organisers of this august event, the staff of the University, and my dear fellow students, good evening.What an honour and privilege to be in front of you. NUALS is a premier legal institution. The person who instituted this Academic Endowment—Shri KK Venugopal, the former Attorney General of India—is a living legend. And the Memorial Law Lecture is to commemorate annually the memory of another legend—Barrister MK Nambyar—a legend of all times. Indeed, I was conferred the honour of delivering the 5th Barrister M.K. Nambyar Law Lecture, 2025. And the topic is “The Rule of Law: The Foundational Principle or a Fragile Promise? For this, I thank the University and the Endowment Committee, as well as the founder of this Endowment, Shri KK Venugopal. I must also be grateful to my elder brother Shri Justice Siri Jagan, a highly respected legal luminary. It is he who first asked me to deliver the memorial law lecture. My Acquaintance: Regrettably, I do not have any personal acquaintance with Shri KK Venugopal. But I am proud to proclaim that I am his contemporary in the Supreme Court. Incidentally, yesterday we both represented a common client in a Writ Petition before the Hon'ble Supreme Court. For decades, Shri KK Venugopal is a source of inspiration and admiration for generations of lawyers. I am no exception; I am one among those thousands of lawyers who tried to emulate or imitate him. About Barrister MK Nambyar, if I elaborate, it exceeds the very memorial lecture in length and breadth. That said, I intend to provide a thumbnail sketch before I dwell into the topic assigned to me. The Constituent Assembly originally had 399 members; after the partition, it had 299 members. Our Constitution is the collective intellectual effort of these 299 members. But in the first 25 years—that is, from 1950 to 1975—it took a handful of lawyers and the judges of the Hon'ble Supreme Court to expound the constitutional contours. Let me say, many made the constitution and a few moulded it. Our Constitution is like a lump of precious gold our framers have given to us. But it is the first-generation lawyers and the Judges of the constitutional Courts that made a jewel out of that lump of gold. For ever, our constitution is our crowning glory. Indeed, we have all gathered here to pay homage to a Titan of Indian constitutional law—Shri M.K. Nambyar. His life was not merely a chronicle of legal victories but a testament to values of integrity, courage, and unrelenting pursuit of constitutional ideals. Born in 1898, Nambyar's legacy spans the dawn of Indian independence to the foundational years of the Supreme Court. He carved a niche as one of the foremost defenders of fundamental rights and constitutional limits.After completing his legal education, including a master's in Constitutional Law from the London School of Economics and a call to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn, Nambyar returned to Mangalore. There he established himself as a formidable trial lawyer. In 1948, Mr. Nambyar shifted to Madras, marking a critical turn in his career. His chamber became a training ground for many future legal luminaries, including his own son, K.K. Venugopal.The First Constitutional Case – A.K. Gopalan v. State of MadrasNambyar's true national recognition came in 1950 when he appeared as lead counsel in A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, the first constitutional case before the newly formed Supreme Court. With just a bare Constitution in hand and no precedents to rely on, Mr. Nambyar argued forcefully for the interrelationship of Articles 14, 19, and 21—concepts that would later become cornerstones of constitutional jurisprudence. Though the Court ruled against Gopalan, the seeds Nambyar planted later grew into the doctrine of the Basic Structure.Pioneering the Right to Property and Basic Structure DoctrineMr. Nambyar was deeply involved in landmark cases concerning the right to property, including challenges to the First, Fourth, and Seventeenth Constitutional Amendments. He led arguments in I.C. Golaknath v. State of Punjab, laying the groundwork for the eventual development of the Basic Structure doctrine in Kesavananda Bharati. Mr. Nambyar's consistent theme was the limitation of State power—his jurisprudence always tilted toward the preservation of individual liberties and constitutional supremacy.Legacy...

Rule Of Law: A Foundational Principle Or A Fragile Promise?

Dama Seshadri Naidu, Senior Advocate

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