New Delhi, June 13 -- Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium once thrilled to the sweet sound of the willow, the elegant strokes of Neil Harvey or the grit of Chandu Borde. But only one non-cricketer ever packed that arena to its rafters.

Beginning in the late 1950s and stretching across three decades, Nanabhoy "Nani" Ardeshir Palkhivala's annual post-Budget speeches drew thousands keen to listen to his critique of the year's budget and what it meant for them.

Industrialists, economists, journalists, and taxpayers packed the famous ground to watch a slender, sharp-featured man tell them that "the most persistent tendency in India is to have too much government and too little administration; too many laws and too little justice; too many public serv...