H.M
Seervai, a scion of the famous Wadia Master Builders, was born in Bombay on 5th
December 1906. He was educated in the Bharda New High School, Bombay and joined
the Elphinstone College, Bombay, in 1922, graduating in 1926 with a first class
degree in Philosophy. In 1932 he was appointed for a term as Lecturer in
English at Elphinstone College.
Having graduated in Law, he started
practice on the Original Side of the Bombay High Court in 1932 and joined the
Chamber of Sir Jamshedji Kanga, who was Advocate General from 1923-1935. Seervai
was appointed Advocate General of Maharashtra in 1957, a post he held with
distinction for 17 years.
In 1967 he published Constitutional Law of India, A Critical Commentary (now in its 4th
edition) which was acclaimed as a classic and won for him the award of Padma
Vibhushan in 1972, and led in 1981 to his being elected a Corresponding Fellow
if the British Academy. In March 1994 he received from the International Bar
Associationa Living Legends of Law Award
of Recognition.