Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said Palkhivala would be long remembered for his defence of democracy during the Emergency and his espousal of probity in public life.

Recalling Palkhivala's views on the basic structure of the Constitution, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said they "bear testimony to his originality and scholarship".

"His inimitable oratory, penetrating mastery of the formidable corpus of tax laws, easy versatility of subjects and vocations as diverse as law, economics, diplomacy and philosophy, and his incomparable prose made him a legend fairly early in his life," she said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said, "We have lost a visionary, strategist, thinker and above all a loving human being. His post-budget speeches which created history will always be remembered for their in-depth analysis."

Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee said, "Palkhivala was more than a lawyer. As a human being he was wonderful, modest, unassuming, and success never went to his head. He was the greatest advocate that I had worked with or been associated with."

A V Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said, "Palkhivala was an institution by himself."

Congress MP Murli Deora said, "Palkhivala was a champion of all deserving causes."

Vijay Kalantri, president of the All-India Association of Industries, said, "Palkhivala was not only an authority on the Constitution of India, but also fought cases for public causes."