Amazing Indian Personalities: Sentinels of the Republic
Volume 9

By Krishna Mohan Avancha

A constitution is only as strong as the courage of the women and men who defend it when power demands that they kneel.

When the Republic of India was inaugurated on January 26, 1950, it embarked upon the most daring constitutional experiment in human history: guaranteeing universal adult franchise, fundamental human liberties, and social democracy to a diverse, historically stratified subcontinent emerging from two centuries of colonial plunder. Yet, the survival of this sovereign covenant was never guaranteed by parchment clauses alone.

Across eight turbulent decades, the Indian Republic was tested repeatedly by executive absolutism, emergency crackdowns, attempts to subordinate the judiciary, and assaults on personal liberty. In the courtrooms, legislative assemblies, and international tribunals of the world, a courageous vanguard of jurists, advocates, and independent judges stood in the breach. Armed with forensic mastery, unbending spine, and a profound reverence for the rule of law, they forged the longest-lasting democracy in the post-colonial world.

In the ninth volume of the acclaimed Amazing Indian Personalities series, prolific biographer and legal researcher Krishna Mohan Avancha chronicles ten monumental guardians of the law who shaped, defended, and preserved the constitutional soul of India.

Moving beyond sterile textbook summaries, this volume presents a narrative, rigorously researched, and human account of the landmark courtroom confrontations, philosophical breakthroughs, and personal sacrifices of India’s foremost legal luminaries:

The Hermit-Craftsman of the Charter (Sir Benegal Narsing Rau): Refusing a single rupee of salary to author the 243-article primary Draft Constitution of India, consulting Felix Frankfurter on “Due Process,” drafting Burma’s 1947 Constitution, and becoming the first Indian Judge on the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

The Compassionate Lawgiver of the Republic (Dr. B. R. Ambedkar): Steering the Drafting Committee through ferocious debates, enshrining Article 17 (Abolition of Untouchability) and Article 32 (Prerogative Writs), drafting the progressive Hindu Code Bill, and resigning from the Nehru Cabinet on uncompromised moral principle.

The Oracle of the Madras Bar (Dewan Bahadur Sir Alladi Krishnaswami Iyer): Rising from reading beneath kerosene streetlamps in George Town to become the primary legal brain of the Drafting Committee, defending universal adult franchise, crafting the Supreme Court’s expansive appellate powers, and winning the landmark Champakam Dorairajan case.

The Lone Lamp of Liberty (Justice Hans Raj Khanna): Formulating the swing Basic Structure compromise in Kesavananda Bharati, penning the historic, solitary dissent in ADM Jabalpur (The Habeas Corpus Case) during the Emergency, and knowingly sacrificing the office of Chief Justice of India to protect the citizen’s inalienable right to life.

The Dean of the Sovereign Bar (Motilal Chimanlal Setalvad): Serving thirteen foundational years as India’s first Attorney-General, defeating Portugal at The Hague to secure sovereign territory, establishing the Bar Council of India, and fearlessly cross-examining his own government’s ministers in the Mundhra Affair.

The Defender of Constitutional Sanctuary (Nani Ardeshir Palkhivala): Overcoming a childhood stammer to save the Republic’s democracy in Kesavananda Bharati, dismantling the arbitrary de-recognition of Privy Purses, striking down amendments in Minerva Mills, and packing Bombay’s Brabourne Stadium with over 100,000 citizens for his legendary budget lectures.

The Jurist of Human Dignity (Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer): Serving jail time as a lawyer, issuing the historic June 24 vacation order in Indira Gandhi’s election appeal, co-inventing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and Epistolary Jurisdiction, and laying down the immortal principle: “Bail, not jail, is the rule.”

The Pioneer in Black Robes (Cornelia Sorabji): Becoming the first woman to pass the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford, shattering century-old gender barriers to enter the bar, and traveling thousands of miles across eastern India to protect the property and inheritance of over six hundred secluded Purdahnashin women and minor wards.

The Champion of Fundamental Inviolability (Justice Koka Subba Rao): Planting the seminal seeds of the Right to Privacy in his prophetic 1962 dissent in Kharak Singh, establishing that Parliament cannot abridge fundamental rights in Golaknath, introducing Prospective Overruling, and resigning as Chief Justice to contest the Presidency as a defender of constitutional checks and balances.

The Conscience of the Bar (Fali Sam Nariman): Walking across the jungle to escape the 1942 invasion of Burma, resigning as Additional Solicitor General on the morning of June 27, 1975, in defiance of the Emergency, securing judicial independence in the Second Judges and NJAC cases, and defending minority educational rights in TMA Pai.

Compelling, historically authoritative, and rich in constitutional insight, Sentinels of the Republic is an essential tribute to the advocates and judges who proved that when power threatens to extinguish human freedom, the law can become an invincible citadel of liberty.

Step inside the historic courtroom battles and constitutional crucibles that saved Indian democracy. Scroll up and click “Buy Now” to add this masterwork to your collection today!