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............................................................................................................................DescriptionH. M. Seervai (1906-1996) held the office of Advocate General of Maharashtra from 1957 to 1974. Offered a judgeship of the High Court, and later, of the Supreme Court, he declined these offices, and also declined the office of Attorney General for India. The President of India conferred on Seervai the Padma Vibhushan, mainly for his books. The British Academy elected him a Corresponding Fellow, writing, after he died, "The Corresponding Fellowship of this Academy is reserved for Scholars of the highest academic distinction, and we were proud to number H. M. Seervai among them . . . His election to the British Academy in 1981 paid tribute to his outstanding contribution as Jurist, Law Officer, and Advocate to Constitutional Law, primarily in India, where he fearlessly and dispassionately maintained the Constitution, of which he was the principal exponent and interpreter; but also as a comparative Scholar recognised as of outstanding merit throughout the jurisdiction which participates in the British and American legacies". Seervai was also elected an Honorary Fellow of the Asiatic Society of Bombay.Seervai's magnum opus Constitutional Law of India - a Critical Commentary, ran into 4 editions, starting in 1967 and ending with his death in 1996. About it, The Times Literary Supplement (London) wrote: . . . he has written a book which is unusually self-contained. No one can read it without acquiring both an adequate grasp of the legal aspects of the Indian Constitution and a clear understanding of the effect upon those aspects of the later amendments and of the successive judgments of the Supreme Court. . . . This is an excellent book, a credit both to its author and to the general standard of learning which the Indian legal profession may find just cause for pride. His Partition of India - Legend and Reality was reviewed by the Economist (London) with the words For the foreseeable future, Mr. Seervai's (account of Partition) must remain the most authoritative version. Only he has made full use of the official British documents. ... As for the massacres and population exchanges, Mr. Seervai proves his case that it was Mountbatten who was largely responsible. . . . Thanks to Mr. Seervai's concise and rigorous presentation of the material in the 12 volumes of The Transfer of Power, especially in the last volume, there must now be a reappraisal of reputations. Seervai wrote The Emergency, Future Safeguards and the Habeas Corpus Case : A criticism, and The Position of the Judiciary under the Constitution of India (University of Bombay), as well as Federalism and The Indian Constitution (University of Mexico). He was invited to give the Tagore Law Lectures, but declined, for want of time. Seervai was a philosopher who lived his philosophy, and a lover of literature who recited poetry from memory for the sheer joy of it. Seervai received the Award of Recognition as a Living Legend of Law from the International Bar Association; and the Dadabhai Naoroji Memorial Prize.............................................................................................................................ContentsRecollectionsRecollections by Lawyer Friends• Iqbal M. Chagla• Adil S. Kajiji• Justice R. S. Pathak• Lord Mackay of Clashfern• Justice Sujata Manohar• Tehmtan R. Andhyarujina• Atul M. Setalvad• Soli J. Sorabjee• Fali S. Nariman• Anil B. Divan• Ashok H. Desai• Venkat lyer• Rohinton F. Nariman• Shantilal ShahRecollections by Family Friends• Sheryar K. Ookerjee• Gillian Tindall• Persis P. Kothawalla• Shashi N. Thakar• Homai J. ShroffRecollections by the Family• Feroza H. Seervai• Meher J. Pocha• Navroz H. Seervai• Jehangir P. Madon• Shanoor S. ForbesSeervai's Articles, Papers, Memoranda Justice – A Philosophical Paper The Judges' Case and the Supreme Court – An Article Parliament and the Constitution – An Article Duty of Central and State Governments – A Memorandum Law's Delays and the Remedies – A Public Address Justice Hurried is Justice Buried – A Memorandum Judgements: Need for Clarity and Accuracy – Address at 125th anniversary of the Bombay High Court Power of the State – A Debating Speech On Nothing – An EssayTributes by Seervai The Bombay Law Reporter Motilal Setalvad Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar G.N. Joshi R.J. Joshi Karl J. Khandalavala Dr. Ernest BorgesLetters 1927 – 2004 Printed date-wise............................................................................................................................Author DetailsIn 1944 Feroza Seervai took her honours degree in the first division, in Philosophy, and worked towards a thesis for the M.A., on The Right to Revolt. In 1945 she married H. M. Seervai, and later abandoned the thesis. Her life has been spent in voluntary social work. She has been an activist in educational, social and environmental issues. She shared her husband's principled stand in all matters, his love for literature and for a quiet social life. She co-founded the Purshotamdas Thakurdas Hostel for Working Women at Colaba, and the Bombay International School at Chowpatty, guiding its destinies in its early years as Chairman or Member of the Board. She has been vitally connected with the activities of many NGOs in Mumbai.Feroza Seervai edited and published The Seervai Legacy, and collected and issued a book of poems written when she was 76 to 80 years old, for private circulation. Her booklet Winning Without Corruption, to be brought out by Public Concern for Governance Trust, relates her experiences over 60 years, with officialdom. She is the happy mother of three and the grandmother of six.............................................................................................................................
