We have a rich heritage of legal and judicial minds. Their life journeys are a gallery of enjoyable and memorable vignettes. Therefore, I thought of sharing some. We have just ushered in 2024. They would provide warmth and a cozy feeling in this chilly weather.
Justice B.K.Mukherjea – Chief Justice of India
Justice Mukherjea established a tradition of judicial independence. He refused Pt. Nehru’s offer to become the Chief Justice before his time superseding two of his brother judges. The first Chief Justice of India, Kania died in November, 1951. There was a proposal to appoint B.K.Mukherjea as the next Chief Justice ignoring the claims of Patanjali Sastri and M.C.Mahajan. Both Sastri and Mahajan were not opposed to this proposal. Because, they seriously thought that Mukherjea deserved it much more. On the other hand, Mukherjea was not agreeable. He threatened to resign if he was appointed CJI by superseding the two senior brother judges. He became CJI on his turn.
Justice Mukherjea delivered in 1951, the Tagore Law Lectures on the Law of Hindu Religious and Charitable Trusts. He was a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. He was at the height of his glory. Justice William Doughlas of the US Supreme Court delivered the Tagore Law Lectures in 1955. The lectures were titled : From Marshall to Mukherjea: Studies in American and Indian Constitutional Law. Doughlas was of the view that Marshall and Mukherjea were in the same tradition. Justice R.F.Nariman spoke on : Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice John Marshall and Chief Justice B.K.Mukherjea. They belonged to the same class. Representing the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries respectively. Mansfield and Marshall had long tenures of 32 and 34 years as Chief Justices. Justice Mukherjea was on the Indian Supreme Court only for about 5 to 6 years. Yet, he was equally match-able.
Setalvad appeared before the bench presided over by Justice Mukherjea. The record indicated that the party for whom Setalvad was appearing was poor. Justice Mukherjea humorously observed, how the party could afford the services of the Attorney General? Setalvad responded, “my Lord, the Attorney General always does not charge the fee.” The quick appreciative retort was : “we are glad to hear that”.
Justice Y.V.Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India
In Y.V.Chandrachud’s family, there was a tradition that the morning tea was prepared by the head of the family. He always did it. Even as the Chief Justice of India. One wonders, whether the same is being continued or not!
The younger Dr. Justice D.Y.Chandrachud (now CJI) came to Chandigarh Judicial Academy to inaugurate Family Courts workshop in 2017. He shared that his mother had grown old. She had difficulty walking. He asked his father, “Why don’t you get her a walking stick?” The response was, as long as she has my hand and my shoulder, she does not need a stick. The family togetherness. The support of each other. The strength of the family system.
Justice M.C.Chagla was Chief Justice of Bombay High Court from August 15, 1947 till September, 1958. These were ’11 luminous years’. In his farewell address, Y.V.Chandrachud, the Government Pleader (as he then was) said : ‘when you read those judgments, you feel you are at a reception to celebrate the wedding of Law and Literature’.
Justice Y.V.Chandrachud was a master judicial craftsman in the English speaking world. His opinions were gems. They were the tapestry of clarity, logical structuring, lucidity and elegance. People would often ask him, when did you study at Oxford? He would reply, his Oxford was Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya where he studied in Marathi medium. He started learning the English language only from class 7. Yet, he was the master of Judicial Prose.
I met Justice Y.V.Chandrachud on October 3, 2006 in Raj Bhawan, Bombay. The occasion was the swearing in of Justice H.S.Bedi as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. A firm handshake. The richness of his voice. It was so pleasant to talk to him. He was 86 at that time.
Justice T.S.Thakur, Chief Justice of India
Justice T.S.Thakur retired as Chief Justice of India on January 3, 2017. At the farewell, in the Supreme Court, Justice J.S.Khehar recalled that when he had met Justice Thakur in 2008 at Punjab & Haryana High Court, he thought that Justice Thakur was an extremely handsome man. He wondered, if he thought him to be handsome, what would a woman think? Justice Khehar described Justice Thakur as the flamboyant and most handsome Chief Justice of India.
Justice J.S.Khehar had the audience in splits when he narrated an incident of pulling Justice Thakur’s leg over the Harris Tweed Jacket. During a conversation between Justice Thakur and Justice Khehar, Justice Thakur told him that he bought his Harris Jacket from New York. Justice Khehar promptly told him that the home of Harris is UK and not USA.
Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru
He was one of the best legal minds of the country. He was a jurist. An original thinker. It is believed that if he had applied himself solely to the academic side of law, he would have been Holdsworth or Maitland or Dicey. He was invited to deliver the Tagore Law Lectures. He had prepared his lectures on ‘The Liberty of the Subject’. However, they remained undelivered.
Tej Bahadur Sapru was a great scholar of Persian and Urdu. Sapru had gone to Hyderabad to argue a case. He was opposed by Jinnah. There was an original document in Persian. The counsel for the parties were requested to read it out for the benefit of the court. Jinnah could not read Persian. Sapru fluently read out the entire document. This created a sensation. The next day newspapers commented with the headline : ‘Pandit Jinnah and Maulvi Sapru’. Sapru was equally proficient in Urdu. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad was to publish a book in Urdu – Collection of Essays. Azad considered Sapru as the only person competent to contribute in chaste and faultless Urdu – the Foreword to his book.
Bhulabhai Desai
He had the largest and most lucrative practice at the Bombay Bar. He was enrolled as an advocate in 1905. He joined the chambers of Sir George Lowndes who later became a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. On the first day, Lowndes gave him the advice : if you will be useful to me, I will be useful to you. Bhulabhai passed on this advice to his juniors.
As a young lawyer, Bhulabhai was in the Bar library. He was reading and making notes. The giant at the Bar – J.D.Inverarity happened to pass by. He stopped. Enquired what Bhulabhai was doing. He tore up the notes and said : “young man, learn to trust your memory.” Bhulabhai literally took it to heart. Thereafter, he never made any notes. May be the most complicated and voluminous case. He had a photographic memory. B.P.Khaitan, a senior solicitor of Calcutta had briefed Bhulabhai in a very heavy suit concerning a will in the Bombay High Court. The client and the solicitor had gone to Bombay a month before the suit was to be taken up. Bhulabhai was a busy lawyer. Each evening, he could hardly spare half an hour. The same used to be consumed in recollecting the earlier part. After three weeks, the solicitor told the client that his case will come up the following day. Everything possible had been done. Still fate was against him. Bhulabhai had not read the brief. The client could only pray at the Mahalakshmi Temple for some miracle to happen. The next day, Bhulabhai stood up without any notes. The Paperbook was running into 2000 pages which was on the table before him. He gave the judge a precise summary of the facts. Never referred to the brief. He dealt with the law. In depth and in detail. It was such a consummate performance the likes of which had never been seen before.
These vignettes are a learning. All, the young, not so young and the old must enjoy them. They are refreshing.
