History has it that the 152-year-old Madras High Court has always been a seat of men of eminence. Such was the versatility of the gentlemen that T.L. Venkatarama Iyer, a former judge of the High Court, had given a rendering of carnatic music during its centenary celebrations in August 1962.
The tradition continues till date with its judges like Justice K. Chandru (who retired last year) and Justice V. Ramasubramanian exhibiting their prowess in subjects beyond law and justice.
The latest buzz in the corridors of the High Court Bench here is on a Tamil book titled ‘He is Chandru.’
A compilation of articles penned by him, speeches delivered on different platforms and interviews to the media; the book traces his journey right from childhood when he turned from a theist to an atheist due to the influence of self respect movement leader E.V. Ramasamy alias Periyar and how he was not allowed into a conservative school for wearing a black shirt unintentionally.
One of the articles, in the book, points out that Mr. Justice Chandru is one who believes that his judgements could be cited as precedents by some and criticised by a few others but no one could ever state that justice had been a casualty in any of his decision. In an interview to a Tamil magazine, he had himself pointed out that a political leader once criticised his judgement on freeing Periyar’s literary works from copyright laws by stating that judges should stop preaching and start delivering verdicts within the four corners of law.
Another Tamil book that has been a subject of discussion among lawyers here is ‘Law and Justice in Kamban’ authored by Mr. Justice Ramasubramanian.
It exhibits the extraordinary literary and oratorical adeptness of the judge as it happens to be a written record of AVM Memorial Endowment Lecture delivered by him in Chennai on July 29 after a deep exploration of over 10,000 poems written by poet Kambar.
The judge had scanned the poems so thoroughly that he was able to cull out verses that led to chapters, in the book, on ‘Kamban and the black robe,’ ‘Kamban on judges,’ ‘Kamban’s rule of law,’ ‘Kamban on tax exemption and remission,’ ‘Kamban on law and order, lathi charge and common man,’ ‘Kamban on law of evidence,’ ‘Kamban on men’s rea,’ ‘Kamban on right of private and self defence,’ ‘Kamban on conflict of laws,’ ‘Kamban on diplomatic immunity’ and ‘Kamban on prohibition.’
Hailing the interest of the judges, advocate S. Srinivasa Raghavan said reputation of the institution depends on the calibre of men who are at the helm of affairs.
