Memories, Memories and Memories

Hon’ble Mr Justice Amitav Banerji

Former Chief Justice, High Court, Allahabad

Memories come almost like an avalanche cascading down the funnel of time as I sit down to write about the most eventful period of my life, most of which was spent in my hometown and in the portals of the High Court of Allahabad. I delved in my memory and wondered as to what should be the theme. I felt that I should write about some of the events noticed while I was there in the High Court. Many things came to my mind¾many incidents, many faces, my experience as an Advocate and later as a Judge and then as the Chief Justice of the Court. Where do I begin.

I think I should begin with my first day in the High Court. I remember it was a rainless day in July; the Court reopened on that day after the long vacation; I put on a black coat with black tie (the dress for a trainee) and cycled down to the High Court. I did not enter the Association Hall until I was able to catch the eye of some familiar figure. I went to report to my senior, Shri Basudeva Mokherji, who took me to Dr. Narain Prasad Asthana, the venerable ‘grand old man’ and the then President of the Advocates’ Association. Having received his benediction, I was introduced to a few others. All those senior lawyers who knew my father, who was an eminent physician, welcomed me to the profession. I was as uncertain about the future as every newcomer to the profession but their words gave me hope. As I look back now in retrospect I consider that I received their blessings.

My senior took me to the Advocate General, Shri Pyare Lal Banerji’s chamber and I saw him discussing something with two elderly lawyers. I was introduced and promptly came a question how come you have chosen law as a profession and not the medical profession?’ I replied as best as I could. He observed that I have to work very hard. One of the two elderly persons present there was Pt. K.L. Misra then Addl. Government Advocate, and who succeeded Shri Banerji as Advocate General in 1952. He told me that he watched my progress as an Advocate from that very day.

My senior then proceeded to the Court of the Chief Justice, which was then situate in the present Court No. 40; Hon’ble Mr. Justice B. Malik, the Chief Justice, was presiding. I observed the court decorum, the lawyers bowing when entering the court room, taking their seat if available quietly, and everyone waited his turn to argue his case. There was orderliness throughout and the Judges sat and left the Court room at the appointed hour. There was no deviation. Arguments were crisp and brief, the orders were dictated immediately. I was greatly impressed. It must have been a very auspicious date, for after 37 years, on the 16^th July, 1987, I sat in the chair of the Chief Justice of the same Court.

My first brief was a Criminal Revision which my senior gave me for being argued for admission. The Admission Court sat in Court No.6 and was then presided over by Mr. Justice V. Bhargava. My friend Shri Brij Narain Sapru, was also given a brief and both of us filed ‘fresh’ applications in that Court and waited for our turn. It came soon. It was my first case; the Court was tough and the facts of the case not in favour of the applicant; it caused quite a trepidation. I put the facts clearly, but the Hon’ble Judge read the brief very quickly and then started questions and in no time the end was in sight. ‘There is no merit in this Revision and it is rejected’ was the order ! I felt sad but then brother Brij Narain fared no better, and we both walked out dejected. However, the initiation being over, we resolved to do better in our next appearance. I started appearing in Misc. matters and then in regular matters.

One of the most significant cases heard in 1951 was ‘the Zamindari Abolition Case’ as it was known. Zamindars, the intermediaries, challenged the vires of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition Act before the High Court. It was heard by a bench of five judges, presided over buy the Chief Justice, Hon’ble B. Malik. The members of the Bench were Hon. O.H. Mootham, Hon. C.B. Agarwala, Hon. P.L. Bhargava and Hon. Chandiramani. We had occasion to see giants of the Bar appearing in the case and arguing. There was Mr. P.R. Das, Barrister, from Patna, who had successfully challenged the Bihar Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act in the Patna High Court. We heard Chaudhary Niamatullah, a former Judge of the High Court, address the Court on behalf of the Taluqadars of Oudh. Shri G.S. Pathak made the bulk of the arguments on behalf of the petitioners. His was a massive preparation and he argued every aspect of the case. On behalf of the State of U.P. the Attorney General Mr. M.C. Setalvad argued besides the Advocate-General of U.P. Shri P.L. Banjerji and the Chief Standing Counsel Shri Nasirullah Beg (Later Chief Justice of the Court). This was the first time so many legal luminaries appeared in that bunch of cases. The Court room was always full with lawyers, reporters and even law students. Expressions like ‘public purpose’, ‘eminent domain’ came up for interpretation and a plethora of case law was cited, including those from the Privy Council, House of Lords and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Another case which drew attention was the “Nolan Case”, a case of criminal conspiracy against the General Manager for the Sahadara Saharanpur Light Railways, some railway officials and a host of traders, who were accused of having entered into a conspiracy to export sugar out of the province of U.P. inspite of a ban order. The Sessions Judge of Meerut acquitted the General Manager, Mr. Nolan, and European but had convicted many railway officials and all traders who were arraigned as accused. There was a Government appeal against the order of acquittal and the others had filed their appeals separately. All these cases were bunched together and were heard by Hon. the Chief Justice and Hon. Brij Mohan Lal. It was heard for about a week and apart from Shri Basudeva Mukherji and Shri Vishwa Mittra for the appellants and Shri Devi Prasad Uniyal for the State, Shri N.C. Chatterji, (a former Judge of the Calcutta High Court, a Senior counsel of the Supreme Court and also a M.P.) appeared and argued that the appellants were not parties to the original conspiracy which was the subject matter of the charge. This plea was ultimately accepted and the Bench also held that the relevant documents which were relied upon were not put to the accused either by the Magistrate or by the Sessions Judge. Mr. Nolan argued his own case. The appeals of the traders were allowed and the appeal against Nolan failed. In this case, I assisted my senior and Mr. Shanti Bhushan appeared for some traders along with his father Late Shri Vishwa Mittra and also argued. This was a case which called for very hard work and marshalling of facts. For a beginner, it was traversing through very interesting sequence of facts and law. Soon thereafter, my senior was elevated to the Bench of the High Court along with Pt. M.L. Chaturvedi, our neighbour and a renowned lawyer.

I joined the Chamber of Shri Bishambhar Dayal who was also attached to the Chamber of my senior. Shri Bishambhar Dayal was a very experience civil court lawyer and prepared his cases thoroughly. His submissions were always brief and to the point. I learnt from him the art of finding out the relevant point in a case and the case law on the subject so that whatever was submitted to the Court had a legal basis. Five years later, Shri Bishambhar Dayal was elevated to the Bench of the High Court and I and his son-in-law Shri K.C. Agarwal had the good fortune to work on the case files pending with Shri Dayal. Shri Bishambhar Dayal later adorned the Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court as Chief Justice with great distinction.

I must record here that in the process of being integrated as a Member of the Advocate’s Association of the High Court, I had occasion to sit with eminent seniors at their lunch table which was located in the eastern verandah on the first floor of the building. The lunch table was presided over by Dr. N.P. Asthana, the president of the Bar Association and it had as its members, Shri P.L. Banerji-the Advocate General, Mr. S.N. Verma (Sr.), Mr. Sri Narain Sahai (later a Judge of the High Court), Shri Gyandera Kumar (later a Judge of the High Court), Shri M.A. Kazmi (M.P.) and Shri R.C. Ghatak and several others. I had occasion to hear the conversation of senior and learnt quite a lot about the traditions, practices and ethics of the Bar.

When I joined the High Court in 1950, the usual entrance was from the main gate on the Hasting Road now renamed Nyaya Marg. The impression one gets when he looks at the High Court building from the main gate is awe inspiring. Its architectural grandeur in nonpareil.

There was beautiful garden in the front with a fountain in the middle. In the winter months one would see variety of flowers and many valuable flowering plants and bushes in the campus which made it an attractive place.

Allahabad High Court is a big High Court. It has the largest number of judges, largest number of court rooms, largest number of cases filed, disposed of and also the largest number of pending cases. The state of U.P. has a population of over 12 crores inhabitants and the number of cases depend in no small measure on the population. The workload has been progressively increasing. The solution I think is to plan no only for the present but for the next fifteen to twenty years ahead and then execute the plan effectively.

Another significant development in the last 30 years has been growth of the Judges’ Club. It is housed in a building which was once a Church. A sitting Judge and his wife are members of the Club and they continue to remain so even after the judge’s retirement. The club meets on Friday. Such meetings help tremendously in building up mutual esteem and in maintaining the traditions of the Court. Successive Chief Justices of India have visited the club and on each occasion a banquet is held half in their honour. Farewell parties are given whenever the Chief Justice or Judge retires from the Bench or goes out on promotion. The Club is only one of its kind in the country. It is a lively institution and has been admired by visiting judges from other High Courts. Judges of other High Courts are also welcome to the Club.

During our younger days, the junior members of the Bar got together and formed a Cricket Club. They had an annual match on the Republic day between the members of the High Court Bench and Bar against the members of the Bench and Bar of the District Court at Allahabad. It used to be great fun. The Matches were keenly contested and we had a galaxy of old and renowned cricketers acting as Umpires. Chief Justice Mootham was an automatic choice as Umpire. One day he was the Umpire at the Bowler’s end and I had just bowled to the batsman, Shri S.N. Varma, who made it into a half volley and drove it hard to the mid-off where Justice James was fielding. In his younger days he was a reputed hockey goalkeeper (his brother was member of the 1932 Indian Olympic Hockey Team). Justice James, who perhaps forgot that he was not a goalkeeper and tried to block the ball with his legs instead of taking a hard catch with his hands. The ball hit his knee-cap on the right leg and there was loud noise. We were deeply concerned and thought that a bone must have cracked or broken. While Justice James was receiving some immediate first aid, Justice Mootham walked up to him and when he realised that it was not a serious matter, he turned round to Shri Varma and asked him “has been dismissing too many of your appeals?”

This may not give an impression that the cricket team only consisted of junior elements. We had Shri A.P. Dubey, aged nearly 70, who played for Oxford University when he was student there. He came to the cricket field attired in his Oxonian cap. He was a tall man. He stood erect and opened our innings. The opponents usually had a L.B.W. decision against him but he was clear in his mind that he would do better in the next year. In course of time, we had a formidable pair of openers for the High Court Bench and the Bar. They were Justice Hamidullah Beg, later a Judge of the High Court, the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and the Judge of the Supreme Court and later Chief Justice of India. His partner was Shri Shanti Bhushan, who rose to be the Law Minister in the Union Cabinet, and is now a renowned senior Advocate of the Supreme Court. Our Advocate-General, Pt. K.L. Mishra, Shri K.B. Asthana (later a Judge and Chief Justice of the High Court) and Shri S.K. Varma (later a Judge and Chief Justice of the High Court) were all keen cricketers although their performance varied from time to time. We had also in our team Shri S.N. Katju, a Judge of the High Court who in his younger days was the University Cricket Captain. His younger brother Shri B.N. Katju, later a Judge and Chief Justice of the High Court was grand all rounder and a very good cricketer. He showed the same application as a Judge. We had in our team Shri K.B.L. Gaur who was a medium fast bowler and had not only captained the University Cricket team but also led the U.P. team in Ranji Trophy. Originally, our wicketkeeper was Shri H.N. Seth, who later on became Judge and Chief Justice of this Court as well as the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In course of time, his place as taken by Shri A.P. Mishra who is now Judge of this Court.

In 1957, the Law Commission headed by Shri M.C. Setalvad visited the Allahabad High Court for a week. The other Members of the Commission included Justice M.C. Chagla, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice K.N. Wanchoo, Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court and 4 or 5 other members. During the course of their sojourn here someone happened to make a wholly unwarranted remark about the competency of the junior members of the Bar. When our President Dr. Asthana came to know of it, he protested and requested the Chairman of the Law Commission to meet some of the junior elements of the Bars. This was agreed upon and the first batch included Shri R.S. Pathak, Shanti Bhushan, Satyendera Nath Varma, S.D. Agarwala & myself. Dr. Asthana sent another delegation later consisting of six other junior members of the Bar. The Chairman of the Law Commission was satisfied that the remark made against the junior elements of the Bar was wholly baseless and unwarranted.

In 1958, some of us thought of forming a Club and where we could meet eminent personalities of the Bar, Bench and other professions and disciplines in order to gain insight to their work and career. We were able to form a Club known as ‘Counsellors Club’. The Club had no written constitution, no president, no Secretary, no Treasurer, no subscription except the understanding that the Club would meet as far as possible once in a month and three members would be associated in holding a meeting: one who had organised the previous meeting, one who was to organise the next meeting and the one who was organising the current meeting. The meetings were usually held in some hotel or restaurant and the expenses incurred were share by the members. In our first meeting held on 24^th December, that year, we had invited Shri G.S. Pathak, a member of the Indian Delegation to the U.N. to speak on the role of India in the United Nations. We did not want anyone to make a speech but elicited information and questioned the guest of the evening to find out for ourselves as to how thing proceed. It was usually followed by dinner or eats and were well attended. I remember, in our next meeting we had Shri R.K. Nehru, ICS, who had just returned from China after being the Ambassador of India in that country. He propounded a theory that ‘China was a democracy.’ Shri Tej Narayan Sapru, alas, he is no more, questioned him in great detail as to the type of democracy that was prevalent in China then. It was an interesting question and Shri Nehru gave us some very interesting information about the life and times in China. We had the Chief Justice of India Shri B.P. Sinha in one meeting while we had Shri Ashok Sen, the then Union Law Minister also in another meeting. Apart from several High Court judges and the Advocate-General of U.P. Pt. K.L. Mishra, we had invited Bishop of Allahabad to know more about the Roman Catholic Church and its administration all over the world. But our greatest patron was the Chief Justice Shri O.H. Mootham. When Lord and Lady Denning came to India, we were surprised to receive an invitation from Mrs. Mootham for a lunch with Lord and Lady Denning. Later we learnt that Mrs. Mootham favoured calling of the members of the Counsellors Club and their wives and also some of the junior members of the Bar to the lunch to meet Lord and lady Denning. It was a memorable afternoon and I remember Lord Denning got bewildered on seeing just one monthly issued of All India Reporter. He observed “how do you read all this in a month ?” lady Denning enquired from the ladies present whether they had holidays on Saturday or Sunday with their husbands? The answer was that those are the two days when their husbands are scarcely to be seen being wholly confined in their chambers. The Counsellor’s Club did adieu to Sir Orby and Lady Mootham in February, 1961. Thereafter, the Club received his good wishes regularly on the eve of Christmas.

The Counsellor Club had 20 members. It lasted for a decade. Its roll of members will make an interesting reading now.

  1.                  Shri R.S. Pathak, later the Chief Justice of India and a Judge of the International Court of Justice.

2.                  Shri Satish Chandra, later Chief Justice of this Court and the Calcutta High Court.

3.                  Late Shri S.N. Kacker who was successively the Advocate-General of U.P., Solicitor General of India, Union Law Minister, and Sr. Advocate of the Supreme Court for many years.

4.                  Late Shri Yashodanandan, later a Judge of this Court.

5.                  Shri Shanti Bhushan, Sr. Advocate also had been Advocate General of U.P., Law Minister, Govt. of India.

6.                  Shri H.N. Seth, later judge, Chief Justice of this Court and also of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

7.                  Shri K.N. Singh, at present senior Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

8.                  Shri K.N. Seth, later a Judge of the Court.

9.                  Shri Amitav Banerji¾Later a Judge & Chief Justice of the High Court and at present Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal.

10.              Shri B.N. Katju, later Chief Justice of the High Court.

11.              Shri K.C. Agarwal, later Acting Chief Justice of the High Court, Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court.

12.              Shri B.N. Sapru, later Judge of the High Court.

13.              Shri S.D. Agarwal, at present the Judge of the High Court.

14.              Shri V.K. Mehrotra, at present the Judge of the Himanchal Pradesh High Court.

15.              Shri A.N. Varma, a sitting Judge and the Editor of this commemoration volume.

16.              Shri B.D. Agarwal, was a Judge of the High Court for sometime and resigned

17.              Shri Satyendra Nath Varma, a Senior Advocate.

18.              Late Shri Tej Narayan Sapru, sometime Senior Standing Counsel, Govt. of India.

19.              Shri A.R. Man Singh, Advocate, formerly Editor of the I.L.R. Allahabad.

20.              Shri V.K. Vurman, Advocate, formerly, Sr. Standing Council, Govt. of India.

I also recall having heard Mr. N.A. Palkhiwala arguing a matter before the Bench of Justice S. Malik and V. Bhargava. I also heard many other learned counsel during the 40 years that I was in Allahabad and it was a pleasure to hear them putting their case astutely and with the greatest amount of respect for the Bench. The list included such outstanding names as Shri C.K. Daphtary, Shri S.S. Ray, Shri Veda Vyasa, Shri A. Vishwanath Shastri, Shri Sachin Chaudhari, Shri F.S. Nariman and many others.

In my time in the High Court we have seen may giants of the Bar. Two of them stand out and have made most impact on me. They were Shri G.S. Pathak and Shri K.L. Mishra. The former with his profound learning was one of the leaders of the Bar not only in Allahabad but wherever he appeared. He had a argued  many epoch making cases¾Motilal’s case in the matter of natioalisaiton of transport services in U.P., the Zamindari Abolition case and many others. He was a recognised leader of the Supreme Court Bar. He was a member of the Indian delegation to the United Nations on many occasions along with Shri P.N. Sapru and the present President of India, Shri R. Venkataraman. He later became a Minister in the Union Government, governor of Karnataka and eventually the Vice President of India. Pandit Kanhaiya Lal Misra was of another mould but also a profound lawyer and an orator. He became Advocate-General in 1952 and remained so for 18 years with great distinction. His advice was sought in all important matters. He was also the Treasurer of the University for two decades. But what we saw of him in Court was truly amazing. Whatever be the view of the Bench he got over it with his persuasive and convincing reasoning. He impressed Lord Denning so much that the latter sought his presence in every function/engagement in Allahabad. Chief Justice Earl Warren told him after meeting and hearing him at Varanasi that if they had counsel like him appearing before them in the US Supreme Court, they would have waived the time limit each time he appeared. His performance in the Bombay High Court in the BLITZ case earned him a special niche in the then Bombay Bar with Dr. Kanga as President. Soft spoken and firm in his views Pt. K.L. Misra was an outstanding leader of the Bar. His last appearance was in my Court in early July of 1974, when he was brought in on a chair as he was unable to walk. There were many other counsel present that day but he put his case so succinctly and with clarity that other counsel had not much to argue.

I was Joint Secretary (Administration) of the High Court Bar Association for several years and also in the Centenary year 1966. Dr. Asthana, the President of the Bar Association took and unprecedented step to announce that he would suggest a name from the Chair. It meant there would be no other name for the said post. I was overwhelmed when I heard him propose my name. It was accepted by the House. His affection knew no bounds. He was another giant of the Bar. He was the first Advocate-General of U.P., in 1937 and we had occasion to see his brilliance in cases when he appeared in Court. Twentieth April was a sacred date for us¾it was his birthday and there was usually some celebration on that day.

Dr. Kailash Nath Katju, was a giant in his days¾prior to my joining the Bar. After independence, he was governor of Orissa, Bengal, Union Home Minister, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and then came back home. His appearances were few but I had seen him argue a case in which he took up only one point for argument and scored a complete reversal of judgement. Shortness and swiftness were his main forte and who can forget his brilliant argument in the Meerut Conspiracy Case appeal, when he raised a point which went home and the Advocate-General of Bombay, who appeared for the State had no reply and the case wound up within three days, although it had taken months in the Sessions Court.

Shri Jagdish Swarup, was a voracious reader, a formidable counsel with massive learning. At one time He was Senior Standing Counsel for State for some time and, later, for the Income Tax Department. He was for a term also the Solicitor General of India. He was author of several books on law and was also chosen to deliver Tagore Law Lectures in Calcutta. In his spare time. If he had any, he opted for painting.

Munshi Ambika Prasad was another giant of the Bar. He was a lawyer’s lawyer. Juniors found a haven in him¾his suave manner, dignified appearance and precise arguments were a model for many¾nay a whole generation of Advocates. He was never angry, never raised his voice and all Judges treated him with utmost courtesy. In one case before the Bench of Chief Justice Mootham and Justice A.P. Srivastava, his arguments were being repeatedly countered by the Bench on the basis of cases cited by Justice Srivastava from his well maintained black note-books. At least, Munshi Ambika prasad inquired from Justice Srivastava, if the black-books also had any case law in support of his case.

Shri S.N. Kacker and Shri Shanti Bhushan were the two other giants of the Bar. In the case of these two brilliant lawyers, the career proceeded similarly. Both were Advocate General for the State, both became Union Law Minister, but for varying periods. Shri Kacker was also Solicitor General for some time. He had the power of oratory and he unfolded his case brilliantly. Both became leaders of the Bar in the Supreme court. The untimely death of Shri Kacker deprived this Court of one of its great lawyers. Shri Shanti Bhushan does not require any introduction.

On the criminal side, the Court was fortunate as it has three giants¾Saravashri S.N. Mulla, C.S. Saran and P.C. Chaturvedi. In their own way each had a greatness and each had his strong points. They came fully prepared no matter how many cases they had on their list each day. The period  between 1955 to 1975 were the golden era for the Bar, and it was at its best.

“The strength of the Bar lies in its second rung of lawyers” was the observation made by Shri Bishamber Dayal. He clarified that if the second rung of the Bar consists of competent and able lawyers who are prepared to take up to mantle of the senior that behoves well for the entire Bar. He observed further that the Allahabad Bar was full of potential leaders of the bar and they had come up after putting in years and years of hard labour and gained experience form arguing a variety of cases. In his opinion, older High Courts in India had the attribute of having a strong second rung of lawyers. There is no dearth of the good and competent lawyers. These days there is specialisaiton in particular branches of the law and that is indeed good for the profession. One who has specialised in service law is bound to be far more effective than another who has not.

One of the most significant happenings in 1965 was the unveiling of the portrait of Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, in the Library Hall of the Association by Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minister of India. He addressed the gathering and a photograph of the occasion shows Smt. Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, Shri B. Malik, Dr. Katju, and many Judges and almost the entire Bar present on the occasion.

I remember the visit of Smt. Indira Gandhi, then Minister for Information, then Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Union Government. She was invited by the Bar Association. She desired to see her father’s portrait in the Library Hall. The next time she came to the High Court was during the hearing of the Election petition against her. Matriculate planning was made for her security and seating. The media people had turned up in numbers. For those three days the whole High Court was agog with the event.

I also recall the visit of Dr. Rajendra Prasad to the High Court twice during his presidency once in 1954, and there was big reception. Dr. S. Radhakrishanan, came as President, to attend the Centenary celebrations in 1966. That was a great event. We had Judges from Nepal, Russia, England, and other places attending the functions. Judges came from various High Courts. Elaborate arrangements were made. It was a memorable event, Judges in red robes looked resplendent but were hardly recognisable. Chief Justice Nasirulla Beg delivered several excellent and thoughtful speeches.

As the Joint Secretary I had the pleasure of receiving Dewan Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, who spoke in his unforgettable style and showed his mastery over the subject he spoke about. He had risen to be the Advocate General of Madras at the age of 30 years. Extremely fair in complexion and with and impressive personality and possessing charming manners he won over his listeners in no time. We also remember the visit of Thiru C. Rajagopalachari, who was the first Indian Governor¾General fo India, and later Union Minister for some time. He had aged by them. He was accompanied by a tall, handsome fair complexioned younger person, who was known as Thiru Sadasshiva Iyer, Editor of the Famous Tamil journal KALKI; years later when I visited madras and the house of Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi, I met Thiru Sadashiva Iyer, who was the husband of the nightingale of India, Smt. Subbelakshmi. He recounted events of his visit to High court bar Association with Shri Rajagopalchari.

Another august visitor to the Bar Association was Shri V.V. Giri, before his appointment as the Vice-President of India. I escorted him from the Railway Station and the hot sun on a May afternoon did not deter him from walking the whole length of the platform where his bogey was placed. He said he was a trade union worker and the sun did not brother him and shunned the umbrella carried by a member of the staff.

There were many other visitors to the High Court and it is not possible within these few pages to recount all that. While there were dignitaries we had some others who evoked interest and were subject of news for days together. The hearing of the appeal of Tehsildar Singh called for elaborate security arrangements as did, the hearing of the detention case of Shri V.K.S. Chaudhry, the present Advocate-General, U.P. the judgement delivered by Hon’ble the Chief Justice Shri K.B. Asthana was not published in any Law Journal. Another case which attracted notice was the resignation case of Shri Satish Chandra, who having sent in his resignation as a Judge withdrew it later. More need not be said as it is recent history.

One person I met during the early days of practice was Rao Narsingh Rao. Many would not even recollect his name. He was the last contender in the famous Lakhna Raj case, which had come to the High Court in the early part of the century and eminent counsel like Pt. Motilal Nehru and Sir Tej Bahadur Saprau used to appear. Very few know that Rao Narsingh Rao was allowed to argue his case before the Privy Council. That is another story which may be stated at some other time.

I am very happy that the High Court is celebrating the 125^th Year of its existence in a befitting manner and the President of India is inaugurating the solemn function. The President of India was once a lawyer and he possesses all the attributes of a good lawyer and the attributes of a good judge. When the Centenary celebration took place in 1966, another great son of Tamil Nadu, Dr. S Radhakrishnan adorned the office of the President of India.