New Delhi, Dec 11: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former chief justice Y V Chandrachud led a galaxy of political and legal luminaries in condoling the death of eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala describing him as a great advocate of democracy and a fine analyst of economic issues. Describing him as a lawyer par excellence, Vajpayee said Palkhivala had left a profound mark with his "balanced opinion, bold expression and clarity of thought on economic, cultural and other issues of national importance."
Vajpayee recalled his personal association with him and said "he will be missed not only by his friends and admirers in the legal fraternity but also lakhs of countrymen."
Recalling Palkhivala's views on the basic structure of the Constitution, Sonia Gandhi said they "bear testimony to his originality and scholarship. One cannot think of a more eminent name in the Indian legal firmament than Palkhivala's.
"His inimitable oratory, penetrating mastery of the formidable corpus of tax-laws, easy versatility of subjects and vocations as diverse as law, economics, diplomacy and philosophy and his incomparable prose made him a legend fairly early in his life", she said.
Terming Palkhivala as the "greatest advocate" he has worked with, Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee said the extraordinary qualities of him as a lawyer were precision of language and clarity of thought.
"Palkhivala was a wonderful human being, modest and unassuming and success never went to his head," he said. Bureau Report