The Hindu Group’s Frontline launches collection of essays by Constitutional expert A.G. Noorani

The Noorani Records, a collection of essays by renowned lawyer and Constitutional expert A.G. Noorani (1930–2024), brought out as a special publication by Frontline of The Hindu Group, was launched in Chennai on Tuesday (November 11, 2025).

The first few copies of the book were presented to Justice K. Chandru and Justice Prabha Sridevan, former judges of the Madras High Court, by N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, at the newspaper’s head office on Anna Salai.

Speaking at the launch, Justice Chandru said Mr. Noorani’s writings were not just from a legal point of view but also from the perspective of a common reader. He noted Mr. Noorani could explain complex legal issues in simple terms.

Referring to an article by Mr. Noorani on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Mahatma Gandhi, he suggested it should be shared with school students to “expose the hypocrisy and diabolical nature of the RSS” and help counter attempts to distort history. He also recalled that the Kerala government had distributed the first page of the Preamble to the Constitution to school students at the start of the academic year to emphasise Constitutional values.

‘This book will make a difference’

Recalling Mr. Noorani’s earlier work Indian Political Trials 1775–1947, Justice Chandru said it was an eye-opener. He referred to the trial of the Ali brothers during the Khilafat Movement, which took place in the Karachi Chief Magistrate’s Court. He said the Ali brothers were accused as A1 and A2, and the sixth accused was the Puri Shankaracharya. Mr. Noorani had documented the Shankaracharya’s statement before the court, in which he spoke about Hindu–Muslim unity. The Shankaracharya was later acquitted.

Justice Sridevan said one would often wonder if a book could change people and she had been thinking about it for months. She said this book would make a difference. Lawyers must learn how to look at issues and articulate them clearly, she added.

Mr. Ram said he started following Mr. Noorani when he was writing for daily newspapers. Describing Mr. Noorani as a fighter who would always demand space for his view, he said Mr. Noorani had stopped writing for newspapers because of word-length restrictions. Recalling his association with Mr. Noorani when he was the Editor of Frontline in 1990, Mr. Ram said Mr. Noorani contributed articles on a wide range of subjects to the magazine.

Mr. Noorani would handwrite his articles, which were then faxed, transcribed, and sent back to him for proofreading. Later, Mr. Noorani engaged his own typist and never missed deadlines and maintained perfect word length, much like another prolific columnist E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Mr. Ram said.

‘Eminent jurist’

Sharing an anecdote, Mr. Ram said Mr. Noorani used to object to any editorial changes made to his copy. Once, in an article on the boundary question, Mr. Noorani had used the term “Chinese aggression”. To make it sound more balanced, Mr. Ram had changed it to “India–China boundary conflict”. Mr. Noorani had initially complained but later accepted the change when Mr. Ram explained that both sides had their claims.

In her introductory remarks, Vaishna Roy, Editor, Frontline, hailed Mr. Noorani as an eminent jurist, deeply intellectual and erudite, who brought a great depth of learning to everything he wrote for Frontline, yet could present cogent and lucid arguments that reached a wide range of readers.

The book, brought out on the first anniversary of Mr. Noorani’s passing, features a curated selection of his outstanding and wide-ranging columns written for the magazine over the years. The book is priced at ₹699, with a special launch offer of ₹499 available till November 16. The book can be purchased at The Hindu’s online bookstore at: https://publications.thehindugroup.com/bookstore/