Why did you choose law? Talk us through your college days?

FN: Law was the last option for me. My father wanted me to take the Indian Civil Service exam, but I knew he couldn’t afford it. I had secured a second class in my B.A. degree and there was no other choice left other than law, as I had no sense of science or mathematics.

In the Government Law College we use to run a Parliament and we ran it almost as well as or as badly as its being run right now. At the college Parliament, the Principal was the King and we followed strictly all the rules by the book. We had a system of election and I belonged to the Democratic Party. I was elected as the Prime Minister for the 1st year, leader of the opposition party in my 2nd year and as a Speaker in my 3rd year.

How tough were the initial years of practice?

FN: The initial years were tough, although how tough can’t be measured. We were fortunate enough because if we worked hard the Judges were extraordinarily competent and very kind to juniors. The Judges didn’t bother about whether a senior appeared or not. They were very happy if a competent junior appeared, especially after an experience of 5 years or so.

Even when you were a raw junior at the Bar, the Judges use to say in a very heavy voice, Notice of Motion to a Senior Counsel, that you are appearing alone? Then the Solicitor would take the hint and we would get the crumbs from a brief -Mr. Nariman also appeared along with the Senior Counsel! I knew nothing at that point of time, but that was very encouraging.

With various choices available for law students today, what advice would you give to today’s students and budding lawyers?

FN: Today you have tremendous choice, comparatively we knew nothing, probably 10 percent of what the law students know today. For aspiring law students I would like to say in your career, never try to show off. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge to be learnt, there is a tremendous amount of experience to be had in the field of law and no one can say “I’m on top and I know everything”. No, you don’t. The moment you say, you know everything, I’m afraid that’s the beginning of your downfall. It’s a never-ending process of learning and humility is essential because you can never learn the law. At the age of 92 my senior Jamsetjee Kanga used to say “I’m still learning” and he really meant it. If an odd chap walked into his chamber, he would just pick up a case and tell us about it, he was like a wizard. He could spot the most important point in the case, unlike us.

I don’t like the system of Moot-Courts these days, in law schools. My grand-daughter participates in these Moot-Courts, but I don’t like the idea of saying, in A vs. B it was said etc. It makes no difference to what was said. According to Halsbury’s, it was said in Queen vs. Latham that it makes no difference what was said in a given case because by and large all of it depends on the facts of the case, except for constitutional matters.

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