Fali Nariman dies at 95
The international arbitration community is mourning the death of leading Indian jurist, advocate and arbitrator Fali Nariman, who passed away this morning aged 95.
The Supreme Court advocate, who is a revered household name in India, died at his home in Delhi at 12.45 am after spending the past few days working on a Supreme Court reference related to India's arbitration law and preparing for the forthcoming GAR Live Delhi, at which he was to speak.
Born in Rangoon, Burma (which was then part of British India), Nariman graduated from law school in 1950 and appeared in the Bombay High Court for 22 years before moving to Delhi to appear in the Supreme Court. In the early 1970s, he was additional solicitor general of India but resigned in 1975 in protests at the state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, which he saw as a violation of civil liberties and the rule of law.
Nariman was one of the fathers of international arbitration in India and a figurehead of the field globally, appearing as counsel in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy arbitration in the 1980s and, more recently, as counsel and arbitrator in commercial and investor-state cases under a range of rules. He also acted in arbitration-related proceedings before the Supreme Court.
He was a member of the LCIA, vice president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and president of ICCA – the International Council of Commercial Arbitration – in the 1990s.
He also chaired the Indian Bar Association for many years and was heavily involved in the promotion of arbitration in India.
India's president Narendra Modi was quick to pay tribute to Nariman today, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that he was "among the most outstanding legal minds and intellectuals" and "devoted his life to making justice accessible to common citizens."
The Indian chief justice DY Chandrachud opened the day's proceedings at the Supreme Court by announcing his "sad demise", calling him "a great giant of an intellectual".
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said he was the "epitome of what righteousness stood for" and jurisprudence had been "enriched" by his contribution. "I have always learnt something new by merely appearing against him".
And former Congress leader and finance minister P Chidambaran wrote that he was "more than a lawyer practising in our courts: he was a jurist, author, chronicler of our times and a moral force in turbulent times."
Speaking to GAR today, leading arbitrator Jan Paulsson, who worked with Nariman and was a close personal friend, said he was "small in stature yet gargantuan in spirit" and the world "at once feels colder, lonelier, harsher" with his passing.
"We are orphaned, and will find comfort only once we stop to think what he would tell us now: 'Stop moping, there are great things to be done – and, if I have meant anything to you... I will always be with you'."
Marike Paulsson says she will always remember Nariman's speeches "drenched in humour" and his "wonderfully creative ways of describing the worlds of law and arbitration", along with his generous mentoring and ability to connect people in the field. "Fali gave international arbitration a heart and a shimmer," she says.
Nariman was awarded a GAR Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. He is survived by his son Rohinton Nariman, a retired justice of the Indian Supreme Court, and his daughter Anaheeta. His beloved wife Bapsi Nariman, to whom he was married for over 60 years, died some years ago.
He will be buried tomorrow at 10am at the Parsi cemetery in Delhi, Parsi Aramgah.
A GAR obituary will follow. Please contact [email protected].