THIS is an autobiography of a leading barrister, who was fortunate enough to live in the heydays of the British Empire, which was ravaged by the Second World War with all its destructive forces, the freedom struggle and the dawn of Independence. After 60 years of Independence, it was the strong Civil Service which governed the nation, keeping “us in order in spite of the divisive forces but since the mid seventies even that ‘steel frame’ had begun to disintegrate.” In the midst of it all, judiciary had a pivotal role to play in striving towards upholding the rule of law and ensuring justice, though with limited success.
The author-protagonist came from a middle class Bengali family with his childhood spent in the districts of undivided Bengal, followed by schooling where European teachers pushed down “Latin and French through your system” as he was being groomed for the Indian Civil Service. He took three attempts but failed to get into Civil Service and with no mathematics and science as his subjects to provide a job in medicine, accountancy or engineering, he could not decide what career to choose. A chance meeting with Henry Polak, senior partner of a law firm and an associate of Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa provided him the opportunity to commence practicing before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council – the then highest court of appeal for the Commonwealth and the Empire.
He then went on to become one of the first set of lawyers to form the nucleus of a resident Bar for newly established Supreme Court of India and advisor to India’s Ministry of External Affairs presided over by Prime Minister Nehru himself and was witness to big power games at the United Nations and international forums from close quarters.
Sen has an exceptional word of praise for Justice MC Setalvad who, he says, dominated the Bar. “By his stature and rearing, without uttering a single world, he seemed to set a standard – a more ethical, a more professional standard which the Supreme Court Bar was, by and large, to observe for years to come…He was a man of very few words. His gesture or a nod would be enough to convey his approval or disapproval of a particular act or omission.”
“Setalvad was very close to Pandit Nehru but one day in the latter part of 1957, during our usual Friday night dinner, I noticed he was very quiet and then a tear or two rolled down his face.” Sen noticed that Setalvad was looking very angry and when “with great hesitation, I ventured to ask him whether anything was the matter, thus came his reply, ‘What saddens me is the deterioration of moral values of Jawaharlal – his tolerating dishonest elements.’ He was referring to the Mundra enquiry when TT Krishnamachari, the Finance Minister was involved and to Nehru’s support to Pratap Singh Kairon, the Chief Minister of Punjab.
There are many such instances which Sen narrates in his autobiography.
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