The contribution of legal titan H. M. Seervai was acknowledged by the who’s who of the Indian judiciary gathered on the front lawns of the Bombay High Court to commemorate his birth centenary on December 5, 2006. Also present were his wife Feroza, children Meher Pocha with husband Jehangir, Shirin Madon and son Navroz with wife Mona. The theme of the meeting was "New Challenges under the Indian Constitution.”
H. M. Seervai: ‘values and integrity’
Speaking on the occasion former Chief Justice of India M. N. Venkarachaliah said: "There can be no socio-economic development without political stability.” Senior Supreme Court counsel Fali Nariman enlightened those present about some famous clashes between the judiciary and the legislature, contending that the courts have a slight edge over Parliament as the latter has only powers to enact laws, not to make judgments. Moreover, "any law enacted by the legislature will be scrutinized by the judiciary for violation of any fundamental rights,” Nariman said, as reported in The Indian Express of December 6, 2006.
In an article in the Times of India dated December 7, 2006, Solicitor General of India Goolam E. Vahanvati wrote: "Values and integrity do not mean much if courage is absent. His (Seervai’s) condemnation of the corrupt and his crusade for justice terrorized the dishonest. Seervai called a spade a spade and would not hesitate to call it a shovel… When Seervai was asked if he had ever taken a brief of a client who was clearly wrong, he said he had, adding that after taking it he told the client the statements he would make in court. The client took back the brief and never returned.”
Seervai is best known for his magnum opus, Constitutional Law of India – A Critical Commentary, which he began writing in 1961. He completed reading the proofs of its fourth (and final) edition on the day he died, January 26, 1996. Serving as Advocate General of Maharashtra for 17 years, Seervai was known to have declined judgeships in the High Court and Supreme Court so that he could concentrate on his book. His former junior Tehmtan Andh-yarujina, who rose to become Advocate General of India, recalled that Seervai would occupy his chamber even on Sundays, steeped in work, as per a report in The Times of India, December 6, 2006.