In the footsteps of a lion

The legacy of H M Seervai continues to inspire the legal profession, says Niloprovo Majumder.

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December 2025 marked the 119th birth anniversary ofthe great jurist and constitutional lawyer H.M. Seervai. It would be apposite to reiterate Justice Micheal Kirby's (former Judge of the High Court of Australia) words that most appealingly capture the egal luminary’s legacy: “Most advocates and judges, however great, walk for but ashort hour on the stage of the law. They play their parts. Their voices are raised and the pages of the books are filled with their learning, But then they depart. They are remembered by their loved ones anda few friends or grateful litigants. But soon they are forgotten. Not so with Seervai. He was the advocate's advocate. He lived in tumultuous times for India. He was an example and an inspiration ‘or lawyers in this country, and thus for all of us in the company of the common aw scattered to every corner of the globe.”

Hormasji Maneckji Seervai is a name when translated to English refers to “like alion’. Not surprisingly his name would set the benchmark for the high traditions of bravery and integrity in the legal profession for ages to come. After having graduated from Elphistone college with afirst-class degree in philosophy, he read law at the Government Law College in Mumbai, following which he joined the bar in 1929.

In 1932 he joined the Chambers of Jamsedhji Kanga-adoyen ofthe Bombay Bar in those days. Seervai spent his formative years at the bar almost “briefless” but never was he nonplussed by the same. Instead, he immersed himself in the study of law and literature - which combined with his near impeccable mastery over the English language would later make him a formidable force.

While others, perhaps not as erudite as Seervai propelled ahead in the profession, he would always maintain the highest standards of industry and ingenuity, sincere and honest in all his pursuits.