(From left) Justice (V.) K. Chandru, N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Publishing Group, Vaishna Roy, Editor, Frontline and Justice (V.) Prabha Sridevan during the book launch of The Noorani Records at The Hindu office in Chennai on November 11, 2025 | Photo credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
The Noorani Records, a collection of essays by renowned lawyer and constitutional expert AG Noorani (1930-2024), released as a special publication of 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. Chandra and Justice Prabh Sridevan, former judges of the Madras High Court, by N. Ram, Director of The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, at the newspaper’s headquarters at Anna Salai.
In his opening, Justice Chandru said that Mr. Noorani’s writings were not only from a legal point of view but also from a common reader’s point of view. He noted that Mr. Noorani can explain complex legal issues in simple terms.
Referring to Mr. Noorani’s article on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Mahatma Gandhi, he suggested it 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 circulated the first page of the preamble of the constitution to school students at the beginning of the academic year to emphasize the 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 was held at the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Karachi. He said the Ali brothers were accused as A1 and A2 and the sixth accused was Puri Shankaracharya. Mr. Noorani documented Shankaracharya’s statement before the court in which he spoke about Hindu-Muslim unity. Shankaracharya was later exonerated.
Judge Sridevan said one often wonders if a book can change people and she had been thinking about it for months. She said this book will make a difference. Lawyers must learn how to look at problems and articulate them clearly, she added.
Mr. Ram said he started following Mr. Noorani when he was writing in a daily newspaper. Describing Mr Noorani as a fighter who always demanded space for his opinion, he said Mr Noorani had stopped writing for the newspaper because of word length restrictions. Recalling his association with Mr. Noorani when he was editor of Frontline in 1990, Mr. Ram said Mr. Noorani contributed articles to the magazine on a wide range of topics.
Mr. Noorani handwrote his articles, which were then faxed, transcribed, and sent back for proofreading. Later, Mr. Noorani hired his own typist and never missed deadlines and maintained perfect word length, similar to another prolific EMS columnist Namboodiripad, Mr. Ram said.
“Prominent Lawyer”
Sharing an anecdote, Mr. Ram said that Mr. Noorani objected to any editorial changes made to his copy. Once in an article on the border issue, Mr. Noorani used the term “Chinese aggression”. To make it sound more balanced, Mr. Ram changed it to “India-China border conflict”. Mr. Noorani initially complained but later accepted the change when Mr. Ram explained that both sides had their claims.
Vaishna Roy, editor of Frontline, in her opening remarks praised Mr. Noorani as a distinguished jurist, deeply intellectual and erudite, who brought a great depth of learning to everything he wrote for Frontline, yet managed to present strong and clear arguments that appealed to a wide range of readers.
Released on the first anniversary of Mr. Noorani’s death, the book features a curated selection of his excellent and extensive columns written for the magazine over the years. The book is priced at ₹699 and a special offer of ₹499 is available till November 16. The book can be purchased from The Hindu online bookstore at:
Published – 11 Nov 2025 20:52 IST
