Paragon of justice

Interest in the Chozha dynasty was trending a couple of months ago, thanks to the release of Ponniyin Selvan, and it will once again see a spike in a couple of months when the second part of that movie releases. But Chozhas have (obviously) captivated the imaginations of folks from this part of the land for generations. One such, who has been held up as the epitome of impartial, unbiased administration of justice is Manu Needhi Chozhan, whose statue can be seen at the entrance of the High Court of Madras. 

"Manu Needhi" is the title given to him because of his impartiality in applying the law; his name was Ellala Chozhan - translating loosely as the "ruler of the borders". That is because his domain was present-day Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, where he ruled for about 40 years between 204 BCE and 164 BCE, finding for himself a place in the Mahavamsa, the 'Great Chronicle' of Sri Lanka's history. 

His sense of justice was so fine honed that he had his son punished for running over a calf to death. It is said that the calf's mother came to Ellalan's court, 'asking' for justice, and upon finding that it was his son's chariot that caused the death, Ellalan ruled that the prince be executed by running a chariot over him. That might be too high a bar to maintain, but at least the legend should help everyone seeing this statue remember that justice should be blind!

Protest

All roads leading to and from the Marina Beach were packed with all kinds of traffic. Including a whole lot of pedestrian traffic, all of who were either going to protest, or protesting on their way back.

For the past two days, the protests have continued. The protesters have been at it, without any visible central leadership, or organizing body. Their demand is simple. Un-ban jallikattu, that macho sport of bull-taming, which the Supreme Court of India had banned in 2014. The regional and national political parties have been unsuccessful in convincing the Court to overturn the ban, and have not followed up on seasonal promises to protect the sport through legislation. Hence, the protesters do not want any politician to be seen with them, or to even occupy common ground at the protests.

And those protests have been happening at various places around the city - especially where youth gather: the IT corridor, colleges (and to a much lesser extent, schools), and of course the Marina. Did I say "around the city"? It is around the whole state, and their simple demand is right here, on the back of this autorickshaw!

Amendment connection

It seems to be a convoluted connection, but it seems so fascinating that I had to get it in here. This unpretentious signboard caught my attention only because of its white-on-blue combination. But finding out about The Law Weekly side-tracked me into the background to the First Amendment to India's Constitution. 

The story is essentially this: the Province of Madras, had been at the vanguard of community-based reservations, since passing what has come to be known as the 'First Communal G.O. (G.O.#613, Sep 16, 1921)' in 1921. That Government Order was the basis on which a girl named Champakam Dorairajan was denied admission to a medical college. Claiming that she had been discriminated based on her caste, Champakam took the issue to the Supreme Court, and a full bench agreed that the Communal G.O. was unconstitutional. 

What does that have to do with this board? Well, V.C. Srikumar, the current editor of the journal, who is also the grandson of its founder, was one of the lawyers in the case of 'Champakam Dorairajan vs The State of Madras'!

From bars to bazaars

Sometime since December last year, the gates at Puzhal Central Prison have seen a spike in the number of people milling around there. No, there was no rise in crime (or conviction) rates; it was just that a new store had opened inside the prison, with a counter to the outside world as well. That was the first outlet of the "Freedom Prison Bazaar". In the past six months, two other outlets have opened up, one at the CMDA Office in Egmore and this one, the newest, just ahead of the Saidapet Metropolitan Magistrates' Courts. 

This one came up three months ago and it stocks the entire range of 'Prison Products'. Tamil Nadu has 9 central prisons, three of which are in Chennai - Puzhal 1 and 2  and the Women's Prison, all in the Puzhal Campus. From soap making to music, there is a lot on offer for them to study. And recently, investments have been made in setting up a bakery (Puzhal), power looms (Coimbatore) and handmade paper units (all prisons). These are in addition to the facilities already available for shoemaking (Vellore), garments (Coimbatore) and soaps and detergents (Trichy) 

Traditionally, these products were used inside the prisons and probably within the Prison Department itself. Since last year, they have been made available to the public and the response seems to have been good enough for the department to consider expansion into the High Court and DMS complexes in the next few months. The profits from these stores would be distributed as a fifth each to the prisoners who worked to produce these, to the Prison Staff Welfare Fund and to the Government Account. The remaining 40% would be ploughed back to the 'business' through the Tamil Nadu Prison Department Manufacture of Goods Fund. So go ahead, give a helping hand to rehabilitate the prisoners!

Ba-Ba Street?

The area to the west of Mowbray's Road, in the early 19th century, was largely paddy fields. Further down was the 'Sudder Adawlat', native courts of the time; the main building was called Sadr Gardens - whether that was a corruption of 'Sudder' is a debatable point - and probably was the judge's residence. The Sudder Adawlat was abolished by the Indian High Courts Act of 1861, so by the time its most famous resident was born, Sadr Gardens had forgotten its courtly history and was just a comfortable garden house. 

But destiny had a way of re-connecting Sadr Gardens with its legal legacy. One of the most respected judges of the Madras High Court, Justice Basheer Ahmed Syeed, lived at Sadr Gardens for most of his life, certainly from the time he became a judge, in 1950, to his death in 1984. He had professional company in his neighbours; many lawyers spilled over from Mylapore into Alwarpet, on the eastern flank of Mowbray's Road. Among them was Bhashyam Iyengar, a senior lawyer and one who, like Basheer Ahmed, was involved in many public causes. Bhashyam Iyengar had his residence at Champaka Vilas, just south-east of Sadr Gardens.  

By the middle of the twentieth century, the paddy fields had gone. Basheer Ahmed was at the height of his social activism, having served on the committee of the Music Academy and also having set up the South India Education Trust; Bhashyam Iyengar was in the twilight of his life. There was a road, or more probably a path, between Sadr Gardens and Champaka Vilas. It was probably after Bhashyam Iyengar's passing away that this road was named after both these legal giants. Since then, many who see this sign for the first time are left wondering how this confusion of a Muslim name beginning with an obviously Iyengar appellation could have arisen!

Lawyer's Chamber

How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? One possible answer to that could be "All of them". Have been trying to find out how many lawyers practice in Chennai, but that seems to be something even the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu is having a hard time estimating. 

The streets around the Madras High Court are festooned with boards naming advocates and their services. Given the scarcity of real estate in the streets of George Town, it is understandable that their offices are usually one-room affairs, where even a loophole will find it difficult to twist  itself. 

In the midst of such cramped settings, the law office of Advocate A. Nagarajan seems to be luxurious. With a cafeteria attached, his clients would also find waiting more pleasant!

Suburban justice?

Tiruvottiyur may be within the Chennai postcode area, but for judicial matters, it falls in the Tiruvallur district. Justice in this part of Chennai is dealt with by the District Munsif (for civil matters) and the Judicial Magistrates (for criminal cases). In contrast to the pomp and show of the Madras High Court, the courts of these officials are quite homely. On a Sunday morning, it was not difficult to mistake these gates as being that of a school or something as harmless.

Judicial Magistrates can award sentences that are of less than 1 year's imprisonment (or a Rs.5,000 fine, at max) and the District Munsif has similar limits. The first court in Tiruvottiyur was apparently a sub-court that began functioning in 1965. It was only in 1996 that the sub-court was upgraded to its current status.

There was a news item that said a building for the combined DM / JM courts was inaugurated in November 2008. Though these buildings seem much older, I'm sure there are no other courts in Tiruvottiyur! 

Small court

With the sprawling campus of the High Court of Judicature at Madras (to give it its proper title; some parts of Chennai are still Madras!) literally around the corner from this building, few people pay attention to the processes of justice carried out here. Even within the pecking order of the subordinate courts, the Metropolitan Magistrates come pretty low down - in fact they are 17th on the list of Subordinate Courts in Chennai, coming in after the Court of Small Causes. No great legal razzle-dazzle happens here, for the Magistrates Courts deal with the minutiae - affidavits, remand orders, minor warrants and suchlike things.

Moreover, the Metropolitan Magistrates Court at George Town is the smallest collection of these magistrates in the city, with only 5 of the city's 26 MMs operating from here. And yet, this building manages to hold its own, mainly by being quite different from its neighbours on Rajaji Salai. While the buildings of the General Post Office and the State Bank of India's Main Branch are rich with architectural flourishes, this one just sits there as a regular, 3-storied, boxy structure, with just that little kink in its facade.

It still has some vanity; what I had earlier mistaken for patches of white plaster, or bits of handbills stuck to the building, are actually mosaic tiles, forming beautiful patterns, and even going as far as to sport a 'photographic negative' effect along one line on the top floor!

Not in session

In most commonwealth countries, the lowest level of the justice system is the Magistrates Court. Most of the cases that come up here are of the type where the presence of a judge is necessary to carry out the bureaucratic processes that are a large chunk of legal proceedings - remand of suspects, swearing of affidavits, issue of warrants - all those little bits of paper that add up to the might of the law.

Chennai has 26 Metropolitan Magistrates; 24 of them operate out of fixed offices and 2 are 'Mobile Courts' - a large van that travels around within the Court's jurisdiction, taking justice to the people. Between them, they cover all the police stations in the city, though it might take quite a while to figure out how exactly they are connected - if you have the patience to do it. This building in Saidapet houses 7 of the 26 Magistrates (the biggest chunk is with Egmore which has 12 and George Town takes up the remaining 5; both Mobile Courts are attached to Egmore)

At 8 am, the buildings are shut and sleepy. As the time for the courts to begin their day approaches, the pavements wil be filled with all kinds of touts, lawyers, police constables, small time criminals hoping to either advance or retard the wheels of justice. I don't think it is a fun place to be unless you have a good idea how to work the system - or if you're just there to take pictures!

All rise!

The position of the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court has been in a little bit of a flux over the past few days. Mr. Justice AP Shah was tranferred as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and he assumed charge there on May 12; Mr. Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on May 9. And then, on May 12, the President of India upon advice from the Chief Justice of India (a former CJ of the Madras High Court), transferred the CJ of the Orissa High Court to Chennai. Mr. Justice AK Ganguly is expected to assume charge today, as the 40th Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

This picture of the Madras High Court complex was taken from the top of another fairly historic building - Dare House, the headquarters of the Murugappa Group. More about this group and its constituents later; for now, we stay with the (surprisingly) sylvan environs of the seat of justice in Chennai.

The High Court of Judicature at Madras was one of the three presidency High Courts in India established during the reign of Queen Victoria. Formally brought into existence on June 26, 1862, it is certainly one of the older landmarks of Chennai that was Madras. Wikipedia says it is the second largest judicial complex in the world - I don't know about that, but it is large enough for anyone so inclined to spend many days just admiring the buildings and the courtrooms. Not to mention become completely transfixed by the variety of proceedings that go on within it!