New York, Feb. 22 -- Fali Sam Nariman, the exceptional jurist and humanist, a colossus in the courts who helped secure many a landmark verdict in modern India, whose moral authority steered and even shaped the judiciary, passed away in his sleep at his home in New Delhi. Nariman was 95.

Nariman, perhaps among the last of a distinguished group of legal luminaries, including Nani Palkhivala, C K Daphtary, Ashok Desai, Homi Seervai and Soli Sorabji, was universally respected. He was unafraid of freely voicing his opinion on decisions taken by successive governments and Supreme Courts when he felt that they had crossed the line. He vigorously took up cudgels on behalf of freedom of speech and fundamental rights.

In his last book 'You Must K...