A Judge recalls Madras and its High Court

The family of Justice S. Natarajan (1924-2014) is celebrating the centenary of his birth. A commemorative volume, with tributes from many prominent personalities has been released and in it is also included his autobiography, originally published as Family History and RamblingReminiscences in 2010. The learned Judge, whose career in law comprised advocacy, magistracy, and serving on the Bench in the High Court and Supreme Court, makes for interesting reading. We publish below excerpts relevant to the city, with the kind permission of his family.

Madras during WW II

Justice Natarajan could not have chosen a more interesting time to move to Madras, living through the Second World War, the Freedom Struggle, and the torrential monsoons of 1943. He recalls their impact –

Justice S. Natarajan.

Loyola college early views.

“At Loyola College, I joined the hostel and the University Training Corps (UTC). My joining the UTC benefited me a lot. We used to go for weekly parades and route marches for 8 to 12 miles. All that gave me good stamina and discipline. I was a Company Clerk with the rank of Corporal and in the second year I was made Provost Sergeant for the Annual Camp.

“The years 1941 to 1943, when I did my B.A. Degree course, were eventful. The Second World War (1939-1945) was in full swing. Due to the fear of air raids, we had blackouts, and air-raid shelters were dug. To alert people, there used to be air-raid warning sirens. If these sounded, people were expected to take cover in the air-raid shelters to escape the danger of aerial bomb attacks. All the streetlights were fully covered and were therefore really dim. Petrol was rationed. We had only a few taxis and hand-pulled rickshaws. Everywhere, one could see people queuing up for purchase of ration articles like rice, sugar, kerosene, etc., But even in those days of scarcity of essentials, the Loyola College authorities provided good and sumptuous food, including sweets, for the hostel inmates.

“The Independence Movement was in full swing as well, and Gandhiji announced the Quit India Movement in August, 1942. Because of the war scare, the Quit India Movement, and the UTC camps, I did not write the quarterly, half-yearly examinations in both years or the annual examination in the first year. I wrote the University examination only at the end of the second year.

“For mofussil students coming to Madras from their respective places, to join the college and return home after it closed was a nightmarish experience because the trains were so crowded that the students were often forced to travel seated all through the night, and sometimes travel even standing for long distances.

“The Professors in the Loyola College were eminent people. Prof. A.L.Krishnan, and Prof. Balakrishnan of the English Dept., Prof. L.N.Govindarajan (in the Economics Dept.,), Prof. Appadurai in the Politics Dept., were all well known.”

Justice Natarajan also had the advantage of his sister Sivagami and her husband being in the city as his local guardians. He found time to visit them at No. 10, North Mada Street, Mylapore, which was then a locality where the aristocratic Mudaliars lived, many of them very active in law and politics. Their names would read like the Who’s Who of the time. Perhaps they influenced Justice Natarajan, who made up his mind to qualify in law after he had completed his B.A. Degree. This involved a wait of six months, after which he joined the Law College, Madras, at its historic campus at the end of Broadway, along the Esplanade.

At the Law College

“In those days, joining the Law College was not a difficult matter. In fact, admissions used to go on till the end of August. The then Principal of the Law College Dr. Krishna Menon used to deliver the first lecture for the new entrants, and he would start his lecture with the following words:

Madras Law College.

“I know, gentlemen, that most of you are here because you cannot be anywhere else. Some of you would have sought admission in the Medical College, some in the Engineering College, and some even in the Agricultural College, but having failed to get admission there, you have all come here.”

“Then he used to tell the students what an important, noble and learned profession the legal profession was and how the students must do the Law Degree Course and conduct themselves with dignity and decorum in the profession. His opening remarks were true in the case of most of the students because many joined the Law College as they could not join any other professional college. Of course, there were some students who came from families of lawyers and they were therefore interested in joining the Law College and getting a Law Degree so that they could become lawyers and take over the offices and established clientele of their father, uncle, etc.

“The Law Degree Course was then of a two-year duration, with public examinations at the end of each year. The first-year examination was called the Fellow-of-Laws Examination, and the second-year examination was called the Bachelor-of-Law Examination. Classes would be held only for three hours per day; usually from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, with three periods of one hour each. Except for the Principal, Vice Principal, and one or two other full-time Professors, the other lecturers in the Law College were all part-time. They were Advocates who practised in the High Court. They would deliver lectures during their allotted periods and then go to the High Court to attend to their work there. The Principal, Dr. K. Krishna Menon, was a Doctor of Civil Laws, a high law degree obtained from the Oxford University. The Vice-Principal, Govindarajulu, was an authority on Criminal Law. He was small in stature, but he was a strict disciplinarian, and the students dared not play the fool with him. Then we had Professor Venkatasubramania Iyer, a great authority on Hindu Law with mastery of English language and fluency of expression. His lectures would make the students sit spellbound and listen to him with rapt attention. He would refer to decisions of the High Courts in India and the Privy Council in England without reference to any notes but with remarkable accuracy and clarity. The Supreme Court of India came to be formed after we attained Independence and framed a Constitution for ourselves. Hence, all appeals against judgements of High Courts had to be filed then in the Privy Council alone.

I must confess that except for a few, most of the Law College students were not dedicated students. In fact, they used to be frequently absent from classes. The Law College building, situated in the campus of the High Court, is a heritage structure. The classrooms were of a gallery pattern. Most of the students used to take the back row of seats and after answering the roll call for attendance, they would slip out. Worse than that, there was a practice among some students present in the classroom to give proxy attendance for their absentee friends at the time of roll call. Excepting the Vice Principal and one or two other lecturers, the others would not mind students giving proxy attendance.

“My two years of law study passed happily. All those students who passed the first- and the second-year public examinations became Law Graduates and were eligible to join the legal profession after doing an apprenticeship course for one year under a Senior and enrolling at the High Court.

“At the time, when I did my Law Course, the Law College building had been commandeered by the Military authorities for accommodating the defence personnel stationed at Chennai. Therefore, the Law College was shifted to the Holy Angels Convent in Pondy Bazaar, T. Nagar. I used to joke, telling people that I did my Law Degree Course in a girls’ school and not at the Law College.”

When Hostel Accommodation was in Short Supply

“I must also refer to my place of stay when I did my Law Degree Course. The Law College has a hostel known as the University Union. It was situated in Broadway. On account of the Army authorities taking over the Pachayappa College Hostel as well for their requirements, a section of students from the Pachayappa College Hostel were given rooms in the University Union. When I joined the Law College in 1944, I found that the University Union was fully occupied by senior students of the Law College and by the students of the Pachayappa College. Not only I, but my cousin Palani Kanakasabapathi, my friends N. Ramalingam from Salem, and Doraiswamy (nephew of Former Minister Mr. C. Subramaniam), were all left high and dry for accommodation. After much searching, we found a newly built house on Nungambakkam High Road which was vacant. We took it on rent. We brought a cook from Salem and ran a mess for ourselves. The beauty was that the building was not electrified, so we had to make do with hurricane lanterns. Kerosene for hurricane lamps was in short supply and was a rationed commodity. Sivagami, living in Mylapore, somehow managed to get extra kerosene and would give it to us for our use. The absence of electric lights was a good excuse for us not to study our books at night. What little study we did was in the afternoons after returning from college and before dusk.

“All of us passed the first year Law Examination, and after the summer holidays we all came back to Madras to join the second year Law Course. Things had not changed even though the War came to an end in 1945. The Law College continued to function in Holy Angels Convent. The University Union hostel was not available, and so we had to find accommodation for ourselves again. The un-electrified house in Nungambakkam was not available because the owner had occupied it. We therefore secured rooms in a building called Bashya Sadan, on one of the streets in Triplicane. We used to have our food in hotels, and generally ate at the famous Coimbatore Krishna Iyer Hotel, which was nearby. It was a small but homely place. Only three or four items would be prepared, like idli, oothappam and pongal with sambar and chutney in the mornings. The hotel would close at 10:00 or 10:30 am, and reopen at 3:00 or 3:30 p.m. In addition to the above said items, the hotel would also serve us good bhajjis and one or two other snacks. The food was very wholesome and tasty. On Sundays, the hotel would make badam halwa made out of pure ghee and almonds, which was so famous that people from T. Nagar, George Town, etc., would come to the hotel specially to buy it.

Appointment as Chief Presidency Magistrate, Madras

“By August, 1969, I had completed four years of service as District Judge at Coimbatore. At that time, Justice Veeraswamy took over as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. His first visit to a mofussil station was Coimbatore, and we made elaborate arrangements to receive him and make his stay comfortable. So perfect were the arrangements and so successful were all the functions attended by him that the Chief Justice complimented me on my good work on the judicial side as well as in organising functions. He then told me that on account of the retirement age of District Judges being reduced to 55 from 58, a number of posts held by Senior District Judges would fall vacant, one of them being that of the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Madras (CPM). This was a coveted post. Only very Senior Judges held that office. The Commissioner of Police, the Commissioner of Madras Corporation, the Collector of Customs, the Collector of Central Excise, the Commissioner of Income Tax, and the General Manager, Southern Railways, all had to be in close touch with the Chief Presidency Magistrate, because cases filed by the Police and other departments used to come before this office. The car driver for the CPM was a Police Driver. Besides this, two police orderlies were posted to do office work and household duties at the CPM’s house. Many persons who held the post of CPM had later become Judges of the High Court.

“I told the Chief Justice that I would like to serve in Coimbatore till the summer of 1970, but this was turned down, and I had to go over to Madras as early as possible. The formal orders of transfer came about three weeks later, but in the meanwhile the news of my posting to Madras became known to everyone. Invitations started pouring in for me and my wife from friends and relations and official circles for dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and tea. We were overwhelmed by the spontaneous manifestation of regard and affection for us by all sections of people.

(To be concluded next fortnight)

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