MSS Saga Book

Randor Guy

The Madras Seva Sadan

First published in 2008 by The Madras Seva Sadan

‘Shenstone Park’, No. 7, Harrington Harrington Road, Chetput, Chennai - 600 031. Phone : 2836 3403

Copyright © 2008 The Madras Seva Sadan

All rights reserved. No part of this public publication ation may be reprod reproduced uced in any form or by any means without the written permission of The Madras Seva Sadan.

Photographs: From the archival collection of N. Vankatn ankatnarai arainn Rao and C. Prema Kumar

Designed and printed by Harry MacLure Design Studio, Chennai.

Dedicated to the revered revered memory of Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao and his soulmate Lady Andal Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao with gratitude, love, affection and devotion from The Madras Seva Sadan and their loved ones.

EVA A S ADAN SAGA THE MADRAS S EV

Foreword

Being one the few who are here today, who had known and basked in the love of Sir and Lady M.Venkatasubba Rao, I am indeed honoured to write an introduction to this book which is being released on 13th September 2008 2008 to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Madras Seva Sadan and the 130th Birth Anniversary of Sir M.V M. Venkatasubba Rao. It is but fitting that the function will be celebrated at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall. The Concert Hall is an imposing and beautiful beautiful structure befitting the name of the great man in whose memory it has been built. His great grand nephew Mr.C.Krish Kumar has envisaged and worked to make it a state of the art complex. This book has been put together and authored by Randor Guy and I thank him for having accepted accepted to help us with this endeavour. endeavour. A long cherished dream which became a reality when we happened to meet (The Celestine Prophesy-we were ordained to meet!) I also acknowledge the invaluable help from my brother, N.Venkatnarain Rao–his phenomenal memory, memory, his collection of photos and newspaper cuttings, his meetings meeting s with Randor Guy, Guy, revisions with me, interacting interacti ng with the publisher and his dedication to the book project. Sir Mutha was 82 when he passed away in 1960 and Lady Andal was 75 when she passed away in 1969. It is impossible to chronicle all that they did,but we have made an attempt to relate some of the events in their fruitful lives. ‘The heights by greatmen reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, But, they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night” – H.W.Longfellow

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THE MADRAS SEVA SADAN SAGA

C. Prema Kumar with Sir and Lady M. Venkatasubba Rao.

Sir Mutha was, as several of the most eminent men and women remarked “One of our finest men and one of our best judges.“Un judge s.“Unflinch flinching ing loyalt loyaltyy to ideals and the gift of comra comradeship deship may be re rega gard rded ed as th thee ma main in at attr trib ibut utes es of Si Sirr Mu Muth tha’s a’s va vari ried ed an and d distinguished career”. “Rao’s “Rao’s judicial career was marked by a complete independence of outlook and an adherence to the truth as he saw it whether in respect of facts or of law”, “His long judicial career was one of the most successful successful and eventful eventful in Madras legal history”. “He will always be remembered first and foremost as one of the greatest judges who adorned the the Bench of the Madras High Court. He was just a judge!”. “Of his judicial pronouncements,the pronouncement s,the bar looked on them as classical expositions of the law and unrivalled analysis of the facts” and the list goes on and on.


Sir Mutha adorned many roles and fought for justice all his life. His compassion compassion for his fellow beings beings was echoed by his beloved beloved Lady Andal and together together they mended many hearts and were were the authors of many a rebirth. Innumerable people owed their happiness and livelihood to them. Even today each of us who loved them dearly cannot speak of them without without a tear in in our voice, in our hearts hearts and our eyes. The Venkatasub enkatasubba ba Rao’s Rao’s asked for nothing for themselve themselves, s, but gave of everything they had and of themselves. I was indeed fortunate to have been born in their home, been loved and nurtured by them, as were my brothers. I wonder how many people have encountered or enjoyed undemanding undemanding selfless love from another ? All who came in contact with the Raos encountered it. It truly amazes me time and time again of how they could coul d love so many, many, so completely. There are so many of us who even now swear we were loved the best by them! How did they do it? In almost every home you find sibling rivalry with brothers and sisters believing that their parents do not love them as much as their brother or sister. Whereas with the Raos it was just the opposite! What was and is their magic ? Is that what what pure love does does ? Its more than 47 years since I lost him and almost 39 years since I lost her-but the void remains. After the demise of Sir Mutha, my Father (their nephew) Mr.N.V.Rao, began to help his aunt, Lady Andal with the Sadan. After Lady Andal’s demise, my mother Mrs.N.Seetha Rao helped my Father. During their tenure they started the Sir M.Venkatasubba Rao School and the Madras Seva Sadan Primary & Nursery School in T.Nagar T.Nagar & Tambaram, respectively respectively,, built the Rajamannar Cottage for the Rehabilitati Rehabi litation on Centre inmates inma tes and a second Working Women’ Women’ss Hostel and made improvements in infrastructure in both the Madras Seva Sadan Schools at Chetpet and Tambaram. They successful successfully ly ran a hostel for boys, affiliated to the school in T.Nagar, as also the first batch of the Women’s Wing of the Madras Police was housed and trained in our Campus. To my good fortune I got a chance in 1976 to take Lady Andal’s position posit ion (not her place place,, no one can) as the Hono Honorary rary Gener General al Secre Secretary tary

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of the Sadan and I toil on with joy in my heart to be able to look after what they began, worked for and loved. In recent years the Sadan has seen the advent of the Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao School, The Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall both housed in imposing buildings, the Golden Jubilee Block, a two storeyed beautiful building for the Nursery and Primary School at Tambaram, a Swimming Pool “ORCA”, Priyathama ( crèche), Pravarthanalaya Pravarthanala ya ( Women’ Women’ss empowerment programme), Shanti Sha nti Sadan (elder’s home), Science blocks and more class rooms for the Seva Sadan Schools at Chetpet and Tambaram. A Learning Centre and Occupational Therapy Centre for children with learning disabilities, NIOS, International student exchange programmes and many other allied activities and most satisfying of them all-scholarships for our students in school and in colleges and help for major surgeries, interest free loans etc., and lending a helping hand to other N.G.O’s as well. From asking for help to run our Institution Ins titution we are now in a position posit ion to give and that gives me the greatest joy. It is fitting that the Sir Si r M.Venkatasubba M.Venkatasubba Rao School and the Madras Seva Sadan Nursery & Primary School Tambaram started by Mr & Mrs.N.V.Rao is now looked after by their son N.Venkatnarain Rao and his wife Mrs.Maria Rao. I am equally happy that the next generation, their daughter Tamara Coelho a gold medalist and qualified teacher will follow suit some day soon. I have my husband, C.Pratap Kumar,, my son, C.Krish Kumar, and my daughter Kumar daughter,, Krithika Kumar Quintal, working by my side. And with our 10 other Governing Govern ing Body Members headed by our able and enthusiastic President Mr Mr.D.S.Dalal .D.S.Dalal our Institution will indeed do all it can, to as many as it can, for as long as it can. C. Prema Kumar Hon y. Gen.Secr Hony Gen.Secretary etary of The Madras Seva Sadan

1st September 2008


BEFORE YOU SAIL IN...!

There have been many affluent couples in this country and more so in the city founded by Francis Day, Madras, now called Chennai, but very few of them have thought of those unfortun unfortunates ates who struggle to survive and improve their living standards for a better and purposeful future. One of the few couples who lived for such have-nots was the Venkatasubba Raos, Sir Mutha and Lady Andal who devoted their lives for the uplift of unfortunate girls and young women lost in the turbulent sea of life with no shore in sight. To such have-nots the devoted couple held out a helping hand and worked as beacons of kindly light to their lives through the Madras Seva Sadan founded by them in 1928. This writer is greatly beholden to his friend and well wisher, C. Prema Kumar, now at the helm of affairs affairs of the Sadan for giving gi ving him the opportunity to do his humble humbl e bit with the writing of this book. It is a matter of regret that there has been no documentation of the lives of the greats who have enriched the lives of ordinary people of the city and this modest book is just an attempt to fill the great void. Many thanks to N. Venkatnarain Rao, the other members of the Madras Seva Sadan family, and to his friends, and the many former students of the Madras Seva Sadan who spared their valuable time to recall their memories of their two mentors ‘Nayana’( Sir Mutha) and ‘Amma’ (Lady Andal). The writer is also extremely grateful to his good friend frien d Ms. Justice Prabha Sridevan, and the former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, A. N. Shah, for providing him the unlimited facilities to research

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in the invaluable Library of the Madras High Court. Mention must also be made of his friends like noted lawyers P. N. Prakash, K. Kannan (recently and deservedly elevated to the Bench of the Madras High Court), and Ethirajaiah, lawyer-academician who helped in his research in the Library. Also to the obliging staff of the Madras High Court Library who went out of the way and beyond their call of duty in providing the raw ra w material for writing of this book. Great persons like Sir Mutha and Lady Andal rarely appear on the horizon, and this book, the writer hopes, perhaps will serve its readers to learn lessons from the lives of o f the devoted couple. coup le. In today’s day’s dogeat-its own tail- world, such persons are a vanishing breed… Randor Guy August 2008 Ayanavaram Madras (Chennai)

THE MADRAS SEVA SADAN S AGA

THE FOUNDING FATHER… SIR MUTHA VENKATASUBBA RAO

The Madras High Court is one of the three oldest High Courts of the country established in the three Presidency Towns, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras during the 19th century, when the British ruled over the country. country. Ever since its inception, it has shone shon e brightly on the legal firmament like an unsetting Sun, winning immortal fame and name not only in the legal history of India but also elsewhere across the high seas. Not many are aware even among lawyers, that when the legal legend of the Madras High Court who is permanently enshrined in marble inside its stately stat ely edifice, Sir T. T. Muthuswamy Iyer passed away, the members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in far away London took notice of his sorrowful departure in one of their judgements, paying compliments to his legal acumen and unfathomable knowledge of Hindu Law. Indeed, this is the only instance of its kind in the legal history of the British Empire. Such is the reputation of the Madras High Court which has produced several legal legal luminaries luminaries and icons who continue to inspire to this day, most of whom have left indelible footprints in the sands of Time. Such legends include many Indian lawyers who practised on the Original Side of the Madras High Court and were during the early earl y decades somewhat unkindly referred to as ‘native vakils’ by the British Rulers and their followers. Such legal l egal icons include among others, V. V. V. Sriniva Sr inivasa sa Ayyangar, Sir C. V. Kumaraswami Kumaras wami Sastriar, Sas triar, Sir C. P. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer A iyer,, Salem Sal em Ramaswamy Mudaliar Muda liar,, S. Duraiswami Iyer, and last but not the least Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao.

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The Founding Father


Most of the eminent and successful lawyers in India, more particularly Madras, confined themselves to their profession (Law has been described as a jealous mistress!) and excepting a few not many ventured outside their professional turf. Some sailed into the murky waters of politics, achieving some measure of success, and some with high ideals and ideas, filled with the fervour of patriotism sacrificed their lives and earnings to fight for the freedom of the country. The most outstanding example is Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu who gave his all for the Cause of the Indian Nation. Very few of them chose to serve society by sacrificing their wealth, time and more for the uplift of downtrodden women and children during a period when hardly anybody bothered about holding out a helping hand. The greatest Roman of them all was Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao. With little or no advantages of legal family background backg round or birth, Sir Mutha relocated from his home town Cuttack (which later in April 1934 became part of the newly formed province of Orissa) to Madras to pursue his studies at the prestigious institutions of Madras Christian College and later Law College. While at Madras Christian College, which was then situated in George Town area on China Bazaar Road, later Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road (opposite (oppo site the Madras High CourtCourt - Today Today on that site stands the Bombay Mutual Buildings), he had a classmate with whom he would travel together up the path to success in his legal lega l life. Venkatasubba Rao had the privilege of being a student of the celebrated legendary educationist of Madras, Rev. William Miller, Miller, who built up the Madras Christian College School and later College, to be hailed as one of the premier institutions of Madras Presidency. In those days it was considered as a mark of distinction to have studied under him and listen to his teachings. He encouraged extracurricular extracurricular activities in his wards and Venkatasubba Rao also proved himself as an athlete in his youth.

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Sri M. Venkatasubba Rao (seated left) , as a student in the F.A. Class in the Madras Christian College (1894) with Sri. V. Radhakrishnaiah, his class-mate and friend in the centre and another friend.


(As a tribute to his immortal im mortal memory, memory, a statue of Rev. Miller was erected by a grateful public and his students in front of the Madras High Court Buildings. The Madras Christian College School was later shifted to Harrington Road, Chetput, while the College functioned in the sylvan ambiance of Tambaram. The MCC buildings were later acquired by the Bombay Mutual Insurance Corporation, who rebuilt rebuil t it in keeping with the modern trend of erasing heritage sites of the city!) From day one they became intimate friends fr iends and continued to do so till the end of their lives. The legendary legal luminary of Madras P. V. Rajamannar wrote, “a friendship which can only be compared with such famous instances as Krishna and Arjuna, or David and Jonathan”. The friend was Vittaladevuni Vittaladevuni Radhakrishnayya. Venkatasub enkatasubba ba Rao and Radhakrishnayya Radhakrishnay ya were together in college and even at that time they found themselves kindred souls, “the type of those who soar but never roam true to the kindred points of heaven and home” as the famous British poet wrote centuries ago. Venkatasubba Rao was equally brilliant in college and the two friends also vied with each other, always in healthy competition to be at the top of the class, and also at winning prizes and medals. Radhakrishnayya stood first in the B. L. degree examination, examinatio n, which made Venkatasubba happier than the recipient himself. Such was their friendship, friendship, which continued life long, lo ng, and even after Venkata Venkatasubba subba Rao became a Judge, Radhakrishnayya continued to practise. Besides, he was also involved in social activities and played a part in the building up of the iconic Madras Seva Sadan, founded by Venkatasubba Rao and his beloved wife Lady Andal Rao. Sir Mutha began his career as a lawyer on the Original Side of the Madras High Court at the bottom rung of the ladder, a very good place to start, as the famous song says. A successful lawyer, lawyer, much respected- and even feared- High Court judge and officiating Chief

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Justice of the Madras High Court, he wore several hats as social activist, friend fri end of the needy and poor, poor, amply assisted and inspired inspir ed by his beloved wife Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao. At this juncture it will be interesting and even necessary to narrate in brief the history of the Madras High Court, a familiar landmark of the city.


IN RE THE MADRAS HIGH COURT “

The great legacy that the British have left us, a legacy of which

even the Mahatma, the Father of the Nation, was always proud, happen to be judicial institutions. It should be the first and foremost duty of every Indian to respect and follow the old judicial traditions in word and spirit and it is only by so doing that these institutions continued by the present Indian Constitution can be protected and preserved.” So wrote the erudite legal scholar and well-known professor of Constitutionall Law, N. Arunachalam in his brilliant essay on Judicial Constitutiona Institutions, in the sadly out of print legal history classic ‘A Century Completed’ (1862-1962), by the successful lawyer and multifaceted personality persona lity V. C. Gopalratnam. The roots of the legal system in India date back to December 31, 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I gave a Royal Charter to ‘Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading to the East Indies’ (more familiarly known as the East India Company). This Royal Charter gave the Governor and the Company the power to make laws, orders, ordinances, constitutions and establish courts that might be necessary for the right and proper governance of the Company Company.. Over the years it also gave powers to saddle offenders with punishme puni shment nt by impr imprison isonmen ment, t, fine fines, s, and even whip whipping ping in some case cases. s. James I renewed the Charter in 1609 giving more powers to the Company.. When Oliver Cromwell took control of the United Kingdom, Company he granted many Charters between 1649 and 1660 but there is no evidence of such available today. Either they have been lost or suppressed after the Restoration of Monarchy in England in 1660. With the Restoration, Charles II became the rightful occupant of the English throne and he gave his Charter in 1661. This Charter

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Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao – 1921.


Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao, as Judge of the Madras High Court.

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gave the Company sweeping powers under which a Council was formed to try cases, civil, criminal, and others according to the English law.. In 1683 another Charter came into force, which is of considerable law importance because it established “a Court of Judicature” (the first time the expression was used) consisting of a person knowledgeable in the civil laws, and two merchants of the Company to help him. In 1687 came the East India Company Charter, which gave power to the Company to establish the Corporation of Madras with a Mayor. Later a Mayor’s Court was established with a Recorder, which had limited powers. This later gave way to the Supreme Court of Judicature established in Madras in September 1801 and Sir Thomas Strange who functioned as the Recorder became Chief Justice. One of the most memorable personalities personalities of the early legal history of Madras, Sir Thomas Strange was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on November 30, 1756. The son of Sir Robert Strange, he was educated at Westminster Westminster School and then at Christ Church, Oxford, after which he became a Barrister of Lincoln’s Inn in 1785. 1785 . On resigning as Chief Justice of Nova Scotia and President of the Council, he came to Madras as Recorder where he set up its judicial system. In 1798 Strange was knighted, and in 1800 he was elevated as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Madras. In 1804, he went to Calcutta where he ‘commanded a volunteer battalion and quelled a mutiny’. In 1817, Strange resigned as Chief Justice and moved back to England. In 1825, he wrote his pioneering work, ‘Elements of Hindu Law’. He passed away in England England in 1841. 1841. A man of extraordinary brilliance, his is one of the earliest books in English on Hindu Law. Not familiar with Sanskrit he sought the help of several Brahmin pundits while at Madras and wrote the book later in his homeland. An excellent portrait of Sir Thomas Strange adorned ador ned the walls of the Madras Literary Society library on College Road in Nungambakkam.. This rare work vanished a few years ago and no Nungambakkam one knows where it is today. A series of changes took place over the years, and when Queen Victoria took over Rule of India after the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, the


British Parliament passed ‘The Indian High Courts Act of 1861’ establishing High Courts at the three Presidency Towns of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. During various periods in the early legal history there was a ‘Sadr Adalat’, three chief courts of appeal from courts administering Hindu and Islamic Law for different types of cases. Those were 1) Sadr Diwani Adalat: The chief civil court of appeal from courts administering administ ering Hindu and Islamic Islam ic Law. Law. 2) Sadr Faujdari Adalat: Until Unt il 1862 the chief criminal court of appeal in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies from courts administering Hindu and Islamic Law. 3) Sadr Nizamat Adalat: Until 1862, the chief criminal court of appeal in the Bengal Presidency from courts administering administe ring Hindu and Islamic Law. These were amalgamated in 1862 with the Supreme Courts to form the High Courts at the three Presidency Towns. The Sadr Courts of Madras were situated in a spacious mansion in the Alwarpet area at the western end of Luz Church Road known as ‘Sudr Gardens’. It still exists on Kasturi Ranga Road of today which was the residence of Mr. Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed, former judge of the Madras High Court. According to inimitable chronicler V. C. Gopalratnam, there was a tree on Mowbray’s Road near the Luz Church Road junction in Alwarpet, which was used to hang prisoners sentenced to death. Known as ‘the Hanging Tree’ more than a fistful of blood-curdling tales began to circulate around it scaring away folks from visiting the area after sundown! Brahmin priests from the nearby Chenna Kesava and Chenna Malleeswara temples would come to the court with ‘Holy Water’ and ‘tulasi’ (basil) leaves for solemnization of parties and witnesses giving evidence in Court. That was the period when even parties to a case had to solemnly declare that they were not filing false cases or claims! The current High Court Buildings, architecturally considered the best in this part of the world, were inaugurated with due pomp and

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circumstance on July 12, 1892, by the then Governor of Madras, Baron Wenlock. A large gathering gatheri ng of High Court Cour t judges, British Bri tish Barristers, Barri sters, ‘native vakils’, officials, and several other dignitaries of the city attended the grand function. The then Chief Justice of Madras Sir Arthur Collins received the Governor, along with other judges of the High Court, including the th e lone Indian, the venerable vener able Mr. Mr. Justice (later Sir) T. T. Muthuswami Iyer Iyer,, and Advocate-General, J. H. Spring Branson, with a 12-gun salute. A procession of high officials of the Government of Madras and religious heads of the Christian community passed through the stately edifice and the British National Anthem was played. It was indeed a historic and memorable event. Photography had not yet developed in India and regretfully there is no photographic documentation of the memorable event. In the early decades of the Madras Bar there were three classes. The Barristers, ‘vakils’, and attorneys or solicitors. The third class was essentially ‘chamber lawyers’ who did not appear in court and conduct cases. They formed firms, most of them being British, and some of them built up a vast clientele and prospered. Some of the famed firms included ‘King and Partridge’, and ‘Short, Bewes’. In later decades, such legal firms were Indianised or changed hands. In Bombay and Calcutta the system of solicitors took roots and continues to this day but for some reason, it did not happen in Madras. In the early years, barristers did not take kindly to the presence of the local vakils and even looked down on them. It was professional jealousy with an an element element of racism racism thrown in. In In the beginning there were restrictions on local vakils appearing in cases on the Original Side of the Madras High Court. During the period and even after many decades, Indian lawyers suffered from many restrictions and minus points stacked against them. They were not permitted permitt ed to appear on the Original Side, which heard cases originating within the city limits and had several different divisions like Civil, Criminal, Matrimonial, Probate and Testamentary, Insolvency, Maritime and others.


While a British barrister covered his hair with a wig, the Indian vakil had to compulsorily wear a turban, whether he had a tuft or a western style ‘crop’. The traditional and orthodox style of ‘veshti’wearing vakils were not allowed to wear slippers and had to move around in court barefoot. This prohibition was nothing short of the arrogance and prejudice practised in the British-dominated legal profession during those days. Even when the great Sir T. Muthuswami Iyer, as judge sat in his ornate ceremonial chair, he was barefooted. The legendary Barrister Eardley Norton who had observed it wrote in his memoirs. “…. When Mr. Justice Muthuswami Iyer was in the process of mentally mentall y analysing the case before him and coming to a decision, his big toe and other toes of his feet would keep rubbing against each other. When toerubbing ritual stopped it was the signal that the judge had taken a decision and was all set to deliver his judgement”! Some of the successful vakils in the traditional costume wore shoes and socks, which looked rather odd in that style of dress! Understandably there was much clamour among the vakils and a ‘protest movement ‘ surfaced among them which soon led to the abolition of such racist practices. However, some of the senior Indian vakils, especially senior Brahmins followed the practice of being ‘barefoot lawyers’ well into the ’50s. To the surprise and shock of the common person, no Indian vakil could appear in the Insolvency Division cases of the Original Side. Only Barristers instructed by a solicitor had the privilege. This was because most cases heard were of commercial nature in which one of the parties could be a Britisher or a business he owned. Such men did not wish to be facing the eventuality of being cross-examined by a ‘black or brown vakil’! This prohibition exploded in the sensational Insolvency Court hearing about the notorious Arbuthnot Bank Fraud Case (1907). As a spinoff Sir George Arbuthnot was sought to be declared an insolvent and the matter came up for hearing in due course. One of the legal legends

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of Madras and one of the founding fathers of what is known as ‘the Mylapore Culture’, Culture’, V. V. Krishnaswamy Iyer appeared appea red for an Association, Association, the creditor. Objection was raised that as a vakil he had no ‘locus standi’ to appear in the Insolvency Court. Like in a scene from a movie, Krishnaswamy Iyer astonished astonishe d the court by removing his black gown and informing the Court that he was appearing in person as creditor! This dramatic event is considered as one of the most important happenings in the history histo ry of the city, which led to the founding of the famous Indian Bank. Well, that’s another story! As it often happens in the life of most lawyers, the early years of Sir Mutha’s were a tough and an d difficult difficult time. There are exceptions excep tions like for geniuses and outstandingly brilliant men. There are some others who make it fast, being either sons or sons-in-law of successful lawyers! In England a joke about the legal profession was that an ambitious young barrister with no contacts or background should sho uld marry without hesitation, ‘the ugly daughter daughter of a successful solicitor’! solicitor ’! The Madras High Court consisted of two divisions, the Original Side and Appellate Side. The Original Side handled cases that originated within the statutory limits of Madras City with subdivisions like Civil, Criminal, Insolvency Insolvency,, Matrimonial, Matrimonial, Testamentary, Testamentary, Maritime and others. The Original Criminal Sessions Court was abolished during mid-1950s for reasons not clear or valid, and an institution, which witnessed many classic crimes, was gone with the wind forever. Regarding other jurisdictions too in recent recent years there have been been some changes. The Madras High Court Original Side in its Criminal Sessions jurisdiction enjoyed a historic even glamorous role in deciding cases which invariably held public interest like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, rioting and such others. These cases were heard by a single High Court judge, both Indian Ind ian and British with the help of a jury consisting of only nine members instead of the proverbial twelve followed in the legal systems of several Western countries including the United Kingdom, United States of America and in many parts of the world.


The Sessions Court in Madras was specially constructed with an underground passage from the accused’s dock to enable him to be brought up and taken away under police guard away from the crowds of the court, thus preventing his friends and associates from kidnapping him! This court has witnessed many historic histor ic cases of crime until mid1950s when it was abolished. The glittering list is long but mention must be made of sensational cases (still talked about, discussed and written) like the Lakshmikantham murder case… Alavandar murder case… Shanmugasundara Gramani murder case… Suryanarayana murder case. Some of these cases have found their way into television serials. All that vanished with a single stroke of the executive of the Government during mid-1950s. mid-1950s. If only the walls of the court and the dock of the accused and witnesses could speak…! The Appellate Side as the name implies, impli es, hears cases coming up on appeal from the lower courts of the state including the Original Side. Before the Linguistic Reorganization of States in India, the Madras Presidency occupied almost the entire lower half of South India other than the princely states of Mysore, Travancore, Cochin, and Pudukottah. After the re-organization of Indian states on linguistic basis, Madras State shrunk shrunk in size and and the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court was considerably reduced. Later striking a further note of linguistic chauvinism, ch auvinism, Madras State St ate became Tamil Tamil Nadu. With all these changes virtually thrust on the legal community of the state capital Madras, the grandeur and glamour and above all, the jurisdictional importance importance of decades gone by, by, vanished to the the regret of many. The recent establishment of High Court Bench at the ancient and historic temple city Madurai, has further reduced its aura. A landmark, this historic, stately, Indo-Saracenic edifice continues to be a mute witness to these changes wrought about by political consideration.

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THE RISE OF THE ‘NATIVE VAKIL’

During the last decades of the 19th century and the earlier ones of the 20th century British barristers dominated the legal practice on the Original Side of the Madras High Court. But the native Indian vakil could not and did not take it lying down. Soon local lawyers made their way giving the British barristers worrisome nights and disappointing days, many of them built up considerable practice on the Original Civil Side and some of them shone brightly to become legends in their own time, icons thereafter. One of them was C. V. Kumaraswamy Sastriar one of the resplendent gems of Indian lawyers enjoying a successful career as civil lawyer. Not surprisingly perhaps one of his disciples and an apprentice-at-law who first began to drink deep at the fountain of legal knowledge was Mutha Venkatasubba Rao, later Sir Mutha. Sir Mutha’s ‘guru-in-law’ Sir Calamoor Kumaraswamy Sastriar hailed from an illustrious and intellectual family of Madras. His grandfather was a much-respected Chief Interpreter of the Supreme Court of Madras. This court was the predecessor of the present High Court, situated opposite the Madras harbour where the Collectorate of Chennai District now functions. During that period, the judges who were British did not know the local language, law, or customs especially the then intricate uncodified Hindu Law. Law. To acquaint them with the t he local laws, complicated and not easily comprehensible to the foreign mind, the court appointed interpreters and learned men or pundits who would translate the local laws from Sanskrit and other languages. Such scholars won the respect, regard and affection of the British judges


The leagal innings begin – Radhakrishnaiah on the left with Venkatasubba Rao behind him – the Native India Vakils!

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with some of them making their way into the pages of the history of the city. One of them was Avadhanam Pauppaiah, after whom a prominent promine nt road is named and continue continuess to be unchange unchangedd to this day in Purasawalkam. Another such figure was Sir Kumaraswamy Sastriar’s grandfather. His brilliance won him more rewards and he was the first Indian to be appointed as Judge of the Small Causes Court in Madras City. City. (This court, true to its name heard civil cases of value value not exceeding Rs five hundred, which of course was big money in bygone centuries.) Until recently a law graduate wishing to be a lawyer has to undergo a period of ‘apprenticeship’ for one year under a senior lawyer of standing and experience for a certain prescribed period. Known as an apprentice-at-law, he had to be suitably dressed in black coat coat and tie which would allow him entry into courts to watch cases being heard. That was not all. He had to enter in a diary notes of cases attended in court, and case papers of his masters studied in his chamber, and the diary to be submitted for the master’ master ’s signature perio pe riodic dical ally ly.. Besides, he had to take an examination conducted by the Bar Council and answer papers on some subjects like civil and criminal court procedures. After the successfu successfull completion of one year’ year ’s study and the Bar Council Examination, he would be qualified to seek his enrolment as lawyer. The enrolments always took place before the First Court presided by the Chief Justice and another judge. As soon as the judge sat in court in the morning, enrolment would be moved with a senior or legal guru introducing his disciple to the court and seeking approval for the license to practice as lawyer. Such license was known as ‘sanad’ (a Persian term and a legacy of the earlier rule of the Muslim dynasty like the Arcot Arcot nawabs). This system gave the future lawyer a good grounding in the profession, giving him the opportunity to learn many things by mental osmosis and observation. Regrettably, this system was abolished for no justifiable reasons Regrettably, except perhaps political and otherwise. Today a law graduate is not


enrolled by the chief justice but before bef ore the Bar Council as one of a big crowd! Sad perhaps, undermining the dignity of the profession, but then that is the way the ball bounces in India today.

During those early decades there were only four High Courts in India, and lawyers contrary to the situation today, sat and waited in court for their cases to be called for hearing. No lawyer would even think of asking for an adjournment! What a far cry from the situation of today.

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THE LEGAL INNINGS BEGINS

After his enrolment as High Court vakil in 1903 July, July, Sir Mutha set up practice not surprisingly with his bosom friend Radhakrishnayya Radhakrishnayya as partner. The legal partnership flourished happily, garnering fame and fortune for both until the elevation of Venkatasubba Rao as a ‘Puisne’ judge. During that period besides British barristers dominating the Original Side, Indian vakils like C. P. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer (later Sir C. P.) P.) and V. V. V. Srinivasa Sri nivasa Ayyangar Ayyangar ruled the fort f ort virtually sharing the Original Side civil cases. Writing about the various gifts and facets of Venkatasubba Rao, Sir C. P. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer Ai yer wrote, “his arguments arguments as a lawyer were we re lucid and cogent, but never explosive; nor did he indulge in those facile arts of rhetoric rodomontade or browbeating- in which some of his contemporaries indulged”. Mr. P. Venkataramana Rao Naidu was a judge of the Madras High Court and also Chief Justice of the Mysore High Court, (his son was Dr. P. V. Rajamannar, one of the leading legends of India and perhap per hapss the mos mostt emi eminen nentt jur jurist ist of rec recent ent tim times, es, and of cou course rse ill illust ustrio rious us Chief Justice of the Madras High Court for many a year. His son-inlaw was K. Subba Rao who rose high in the Indian legal firmament to become the Chief Justice of India, unsuccessfully contested for the post po st of t he Pr Pres esid iden ent) t).. He wh whoo wa wass cl clos osel elyy as asso soci ciat ated ed wi with th Venkatasubba Rao said, “he was one of the most clever, careful and thorough-going cross examiners I have ever seen. His presentation of his cases was always clear, neat and orderly. He had a remarkable ability in the selection and marshalling of facts. His advocacy was forceful, dignified and fair”.


Venkatasubba Rao, Radhakrishnaiah and Contemporaries

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One of the well known lawyers of the Original Side and a noted playwr pla ywrigh ight, t, sta stage ge per person son and gra granar naryy of wit and hum humor, or, V. C. Gopalratnam who had appeared before Sir Mutha along with his fatherin-law legendary lawyer V. V. Srinivasa Ayyangar and also on his own in many cases before him, described him thus “Sir Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao believed in a thorough preparation of a case, whether a complicated suit or an ordinary application in Chambers. Every pinpoint of fact having any relevance to the case would have been noted and indexed inexorably in his mind, to be drawn upon whenever necessary during the argument ar gument or cross cr oss examination… examinati on… Sir Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao’ R ao’ss advocacy was steady and continuous. He firmly believed in completing his sentences… Sir Venkatasubba Rao never raised his voice above its even, normal pitch to emphasise any aspect of his speech…” After he had built up an enormous practice on the Original Side it was time for him to conquer fresh areas in life. As a crowning glory came his elevation as Judge of the Madras High Court in 1921. Interestingly his appointment did not find favour with certain sections of the Bar. One would wonder why. During those years it was the common practice to elevate lawyers lawyer s mainly practising on the Appellate Side of the High Court, mostly mos tly of civil appeals. appea ls. Venkatas Venkatasubba ubba Rao did not have appreciable practice on the Appellate Side excepting appeals he had to fight with respect to his own cases which he had appeared earlier on the Original Side at the trial stage. Very Very few Original Side lawyers had been elevated to the High Court Bench during that era and the only other ‘native vakil’ on whom this distinction was conferred was V. V. Srinivasa Ayyangar. Anyway he was sworn in as High Court Judge on November 17, 1921, when the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court was Sir Walt Walter er Schwabe. Sir Walter Walter was one of the most distinguished Chief Justices of the Madras High Court and he stood for the highest British traditions of Justice, Equity and Fairplay.


Aware of Venkatasubba Rao’s lack of experience in handling criminal cases, the Chief Justice sat him on a Division Bench along with Mr. Justice Ayling. It was a tradition of the Madras High Court as also others that a newly elevated judge is initiated into the various branche bra nchess of law by sitt sitting ing on the Div Divisio isionn Ben Bench ch and Sir Venk enkatas atasubba ubba Rao was no exception. However with his brilliance and inborn genius, he showed his class soon and dispelled the ‘Cassandra prophecies’ prophecies’ of those who criticized his appointment. He sat in judgment over a variety of cases including heavy civil appeals involving intricate questions on a variety of subjects su bjects like the t he Hindu Law, Law, Muslim Law, Law, Riparian Rights Rig hts and such complicated legal issues. Besides his learning, inborn talents and acquired skills, according to Gopalratnam, “he was the boldest judge who ever walked the corridors of the Madras High Court!” Such was his enormous drive and dynamism and ‘guts’ to oppose even British judges of the Madras High Court whom he considered as being condescending and patronizing towards their Indian colleagues. A couple of events during his tenure on the Bench will highlight such facets of his dynamism. During that era air-conditioning was unknown in this part of the world and even electric fan comfort was not that common as it became laterr. Earlier, late Earlier , when there no fans at all in the High Court building, the judges and lawyers had to make do with the ‘punkah’ hanging from above which would be pulled by a peon or low grade employee seated in a corner on the floor below the Bench of the judges, pulling it mechanically up and down to ‘create’ breeze. As the High Court buildings were situated close to the Bay beach, the natural breeze blowing from the Bay of Bengal brought a considerable degree of comfort to those working in the stately edifice. Talking of the punkah, an interesting intere sting anecdote anecdot e and event deserves mention… One of the icons of the Madras High Court who created history was Eardley Norton, a barrister who practised not only in Madras but also in the High Courts of Rangoon and Calcutta, and who is even today a household name among lawyers and educated sections of Madras society. Even though he was a true blue Englishman,

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he was anti-British and pro-Indian, supporting the early beginnings of the Indian Freedom Movement. He also wrote a series of articles regularly for The Hindu, frankly airing out his views under the name ‘Olla Podrida’. Because his views were anti-British he obviously felt that he should hide his real name behind this odd-sounding pseudonym. One day when he was arguing an important point of law in a case involving very high stakes before an English judge at the Madras High Court, he found that his Lordship was fast asleep in his comfortable plush cushion chair. Normally the punkah- puller pul ler goes to sleep with his arm mechanically and automatically continuing to pull the rope. Noticing it, the inimitable barrister picked up a thick law book on his table and deliberately deliberately threw it at the punkah-puller who had his eyes closed perhaps in dreamy slumber with his arm active! The book landed with a thud on him and then onto the floor making considerable noise which succeeded in waking up the sleeping judge. His Lordship woke up with a start and whispered “what on earth for heaven’s sake is happening!” Eardley Norton without raising his voice in a serious tone remarked, “ My Lord, at least this fellow is not paid to sleep in court, I suppose!” The judge took the hint and from that moment onwards he was all attention. Not surprisingly this event created history, fondly remembered by old-timers and their inquisitive descendants. Venkatasubba Rao was allotted for his private Judge’s Chamber, a room which had quite a few windows opening out on the beach side which was not far away from the High Court buildings and much shorter in distance if one was a crow! One British judge had his eye on this chamber and wanted to occupy it so that he could enjoy the sea breeze without bothering about punkahs, fans and all. Wi With th such motive and even ambition, one morning he occupied Venkatasubba Rao’s chamber well before the usual time for the judge’s arrival. When Venkatasubba Rao walked in he was stunned to find a British judge occup occupying ying his room and almos almostt ignor ignoring ing the origi original nal occup occupant’ ant’ss entry inside. In characteristic display of his enormous drive, Venkatasubba Rao sent a message to the Chief Justice, a Britisher conveying in clear precise terms that he would not come to the court


to discharge his duties as judge if he was not given his room back, where he had his files, fi les, case papers and judge’ judge’ss robes, and he proceeded pro ceeded homewards cool as a cucumber... The poor Chief Justice wondered what he should do, but knowing Venkatasubba Rao’s bent of mind and dash, he persuaded his brother English judge to vacate leaving the rightful occupant, the Indian judge to come back as usual. It was only then Venkatasubba Rao left home and came back to the High Court, proceeding to occupy his chamber. chamber. That was Sir Mutha. Another event created history and is to this day unheard of, in the annals of the Madras High Court or possibly any other High Court. Venkatasubba Rao sat on the Bench for seventeen long years, a record for an Indian judge during his day, and very often when

the British Chief Justices Justi ces went on home leave as they did for following the High Court vacation, he officiated as the Chief Justice for the necessary periods. During that day the British Indian In dian Government did not appoint Indians to be Chief Justices even for a short period, and they had no option than to appoint Venkatasubba Rao as Officiating Chief Justice when necessary. During one such period when he was the Officiating Chief Justice, the selection of district munsiffs came up for execution. In those happier times the selection of district munsiffs was entirely at the discretion of the Chief Justice who, whenever necessary sought the advice of his brother judges. Unlike today there were no political manipulations based on caste, creed, cre ed, community, and geography, geography, and almost the entire selection was based on sheer merit. Venkatasubba Rao after following the procedure like interviews and such, selected twenty advocates as district munsiffs and sent the list to the Governor of Madras who was only a formal head-nodding authority. While the list was under consideration considerati on the permanent Chief Justice came back from Britain and was shocked to find that his acting Indian counterpart had finalised the selection, the list having gone to the Governor for formal confirmation. confirm ation. Touched Touched to the quick, the Chief Justice called for fresh applications and in due course sent a list of his choice of district munsiffs to the Governor. He said that

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Venkatasubba Rao had no power as the acting Chief Justice to appoint district munsiffs and the list sent by him should be ignored, and thrown into the nearest trash can! When the matter was referred back by the Governor, Venkatasubba Rao Ra o in his reply wrote strongly strongl y that whether acting or not, a Chief Justice was Chief Justice during the period he was asked to occupy the chair. He ar argued gued with thumping force that tha t if his selection of munsiffs was invalid, then the judgements and judicial orders he had delivered and passed during that period of occupancy should also be invalid! The Governor had no answer to this irrefutable argument of the bold Indian judge, and to prevent a crisis he ordered appointing the candidates from both the lists and that year there was a real bonanza of district munsiffs being appointed! That was Sir Mutha. It is difficult to imagine today judges of such calibre, with tenacity of purpose and sense of conviction.

As High Court judge, “he had inestimable qualities… qualities more essential for the making of a great judge. He was one of the most conscientious of judges. He would never decide a case whether it be a small revision petition or a heavy first appeal without complet completely ely grasping the facts of the cases and studying the points of law which were involved in it. His thoroughness, which demanded untiring industry and patience in hearing, has been rarely equalled.

Sometimes this quality of thoroughness was disconcerting to senior advocates who were required [to appear] in several courts. When a decision was cited to him he would read it from the beginning to the end, though counsel might have only referred a few passages. Thoroughness and patience were also found in his judgements. He was extremely careful in his language which was characterised by lucidity and precision”. He had another rare quality as judge, his self-effacing humility and humanness. He never hesitated to learn principles of

law and others from the counsel appearing before him if he had reason to believe that he did not possess the necessary knowledge on the


particular point or nuance of law argued before him. If he found it difficult to follow an argument he would with characteristic frankness and honesty make every effort to understand such points. As Dr. P. V. Rajamannar wrote, “how often do we not hear a judge say, ‘I understand your point but I am against you!’ when the learned judge has not even a remote idea of the point sought to be made by the counsel. Venkatasubba Rao did not belong to that class. Another outstanding quality which will always be remembered by generations of advocates- and should be remembered by generations of judges- it was his fearless independence and courage of conviction.” (A couple of events eve nts bringing bringi ng out these facets f acets of Venkatas Venkatasubba ubba Rao have been narrated narrated earlier in this chronicle.) M. Pathanjali Sastri, one of the learned judges of the Madras High Court who later occupied the highest seat of Indian Judiciary as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India at Delhi remarked, “the Madras High Court has had many distinguished judges noted not ed for their independence of judgement… and Sir M Venkatasubba Rao was conspicuous among them.” Venkatasubba Rao had absolutely no hesitation whenever he felt he had to disagree on any point which his brother judges sitting along with him hearing a case, if he felt convinced that his point was well taken. He was never afraid of displeasing anybody including the white ‘burra sahibs’ of the then Government. Replying to the farewell address of the Advocate-General, Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Kri shnaswamy Iyer on the day of his retirement from the Bench, Sir Mutha (as he then was) said, “I do admit that justice to be rendered is to be within and not outside the law,, but much depends on law o n the judge’s attitude at titude of mind and an d the way in which he has developed his judicial conscience. A judge, able and learned and possessing a vision, if intent upon advancing justice, is rarely thwarted by the claim of law as opposed to justice.. In the innumerable controversies which go to make up a justice

case, there are always facts which lend themselves to such treatment as to produce the desired result without the judge being obliged to wrest or distort the law. Then again, it is the function of a judge where

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the law is elastic, adopted to the growing growin g needs of the community and its constantly shifting life.” He often said the mind of a judge cannot and should not be as neutral as a sheet of plate glass. As Lord Macmillan wrote in his interesting essay on Lord Chancellor Birkenhead (F. (F. E. Smith, to give his real name was one of the brilliant lawyers and later judges of Great Britain. He was the Lord Chancellor who presided over the House of Lords and for a term he was the Secretary of State for India, a high office and a member of the British Cabinet handling Indian affairs.), “a neutral mind may actually fail judicial efficiency, for the warmer tints of imagination and sympathy sympat hy are needed to temper the cold light of reason if human justice is to be done”. Sir Mutha certainly had these qualities like imagination and sympathy in abundant measure which made him a ‘rare Daniel who came to judgement’. Brilliant statesman, national leader and one of the great sons of the Motherland, who was once a successful lawyer before he gave up his lucrative practice to fight for the freedom of the country, Chakravarthi Rajagopalachariar, Rajagopal achariar, affectionately known as Rajaji said, “Venkatasubba Rao was one of our finest men and one of our best judges”. To quote an Indian idiom, it was an example of Sage

Vashishta calling calli ng another sage Brahmarishi! Brahmarish i!

Mr. Justice M. Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao R ao as he was officially offici ally known as a High Court judge had to face considerable criticism when his appointment was announced. However most of the High Court judges during that period were imported from the United Kingdom or the Indian judges were invariably Brahmin vakils, mostly from Mylapore. There was a strong impression in the minds of the Non-Brahmins that there were no Non-Brahmin judges appointed earlier earlier around that time and one of the top leaders leaders of the Justice Party with considerable influence the Raja of Paanagal (who later became Premier of the Presidency) and he was bent upon


that the two vacancies should be filled without ado and Non-Brahmin judges jud ges sho should uld be app appoin ointed ted to fil filll the these se vac vacanc ancies ies.. Aft After er muc muchh discussion two judges were appointed one of them being Mutha Venkatasubba Rao. The other was David Devadoss. The Justice Party not only held sway over the political atmosphere of the Madras Presidency but also ruled the province from Fort St. George. Somewhat interestingly interesti ngly during that period most of the High Court judges appointed appointed from the local Bar of the the Madras High Court were vakils who practised on the Appellate Side and not on the Original fi rst Original Side lawyer Side. Indeed Venkatasubba Rao was the first to be appointed High Court judge at Madras, which raised more than many eyebrows among the vakils of Madras, especially those from Mylapore who invariably had many of them being elevated as High Court judges. Indeed Mylapore and lawyers have been synonymous in the recent years. Many people criticised his appointment and commented privately that Venkatasubba Rao was made a judge even though he was only an Original Side lawyer only because he was not a Brahmin and belonged to the mercantile Vysya Vysya community, community, and therefore therefore had the indirect backing of the Justice Party then holding sway over the Madras Presidency. Even though he deserved the elevation by sheer merit and his brilliance, old-timers to this day still believe that his community and the Justice Party blessing had a considerable consider able say in his appointment. However he belittled all the criticism levelled against him by proving to be as brilliant a judge as he was as a lawyer. lawyer. He tried many cases of varying genre both civil and criminal, and his critics had to eat their words and appreciate his work on the Bench.

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VIZIANAGARAM RAJA’S CASE

It is indeed not possible or desirable to discuss the various cases that he sat in judgement over his long innings of seventeen years as High Court judge. However one particular case deserves mention and discussion at some length. Known as the ‘Vizianagaram Raja’s Case’ it created a sensation in the then Madras Presidency especially in the Telugu speaking districts under the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. This case had many layered meanings some of them, which for obvious reasons, could not be made public but were only whispered in Madras society of that era. Old-timers especially lawyers of that generation and those who had just then entered the Bar still talk about this case with much excitement and whisper how certain aspects of the case were never revealed- or could not be revealed for reasons one can only guess, or perhaps hint at even at this distance of seven to eight decades. The sensational case which caused ripples not only in the then sprawling Madras Presidency but also in the rest of the country and more prominently among the class of rajas, maharajas, zamindars, nawabs and nawabzadas who watched it all with great interest because it concerned one of their class, the Raja of Vizianagaram. The raja had four children, one, Rajkumari Appala Appala Kondaiya Amba, two, Yuvaraj Vijayaram Gajapathi Raj, Raj , three, Rajkumari Rajk umari Jayadevi, Jayade vi, and four Rajkumar Visweswar Gajapathi Raj, all being minors. Strong attempts were made by the members of his immediate family including the Rani of Vizianagaram to take the minor children to Great Britain for the purpose of educating educ ating them in that country co untry,, and also to appoint a suitable person as their guardian.


In May 1936 under Section S ection 15 of the th e Madras Court of o f Wards Wards Act Act,, the then Government of Madras made a declaration that the Raja was a disqualified person, unfit to handle his own affairs, the family and the considerable property and directed the Court of Wards to assume and take over the supervision superv ision of both his person and property prop erty.. Raja immediately filed a suit in the court of the Subordinate Judge of Vizagapatam,, now Vishakapatnam Vizagapatam Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Questioning the validity of the order made by the Government of Madras and praying for a declaration that it was ultra vires and unauthorised. The Raja also came to know much to his shock, dismay and sorrow, that the Court of Wards was intending to send his minor children to England on May 9, 1936, ostensibly for the purpose of their education. Alarmed to the quick, the Raja immediately applied to the Subordinate Judge of the same court seeking an injunction to restrain the Court of Wards from taking away the children. When this application was made in the Subordinate Judge’s court in Vizag (as it was commonly known in those days and by old timers even today) it was about to close for the usual Summer Vacation. Therefore, the sub-Judge made a provisional order, ‘It is desirable that the the children children should should not be sent sent away from India without intimation to the plaintiff who is their natural father… I therefore direct the defendant to inform the plaintiff fifteen days in advance of their intended departure so that if it is to happen in the summer recess of this court, the plaintiff may move the High Court in Madras if necessary to grant an injunction…’. Accordingly Accordingly the Raja sought the protection of the Madras High Court and filed an application which came up for hearing before Mr. Justice K. P. Lakshman Rao who heard the application and dismissed it, observing shortly that the suit itself appeared appear ed to be prima facie, incompetent and therefore no such petition in such a suit could lie. Against this order the petitioner filed an appeal which came up in May 1936 before Venkatasubba Rao R ao (then Officiating Offici ating Chief Justice) Jus tice) and Mr. Justice P. P. Venkatara enkataramana mana Rao. Venkatasub Venkatasubba ba Rao interestingl inter estinglyy observed in i n his judgement, “ … one of the curious curious features of this case has been that the petitioner has argued his case in person with a view to demonstrate I believe, that imputation that he is mentally unsound is wholly

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unfounded… we suggested that the case might lie over and be disposed of by the vacation judges during the summer recess, but we were told that the minors’ passages by ship has already been booked and it is essential that they be allowed to leave on May 9th… again if the minors are to be sent out of the country as intended, they must, we understand, take a train in an hour or two. The question therefore is that the balance of convenience require that the minors should be permitted to sail at once or their departure granting that eventually the Court of Wards succeeds should be postponed for the present?” (The Court of Wards was established by the British Indian Government under the Act mentioned above to take care of the custody custody,, residence, education and marriage of minors, the children of maharajas, rajas, zamindars and such other persons. Once a minor is placed under the protection of the Court of Wards, the age of minority extends from the common law age of 18 years to the completion of 21 years. In those days there was a spate of cases about the matters of minors placed under the Courts of War Wards ds Act going up from court to court right up to the Privy Council in far away London, which was then the highest court of appeal until the Federal Court of India was formed under the Government of India Act Act of 1935 at Delhi. Interestingly the Federal Court had only civil jurisdiction and criminal Interestingly appeals were still being filed in London until the country attained independence. There is an interesting reason for the subtle distinction. The Federal Court of India had three judges, the Chief Justice being a Britisher, the remaining two judges one being a Hindu and the other a Muslim. The Muslim judge was Sir Mohammed Zafarullah Khan, a brilliant lawyer who later created history as the Law Minister of Pakistan and entered the pages of modern Indian history as the person who argued the case for Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute before the United Nations. A dispute that is still hanging fire even after sixty years with millions of Indian rupees being spent and huge loss of human life which cannot be estimated in rupees and paise.)


When the court reopened the Raja filed a petition both under the Guardians and Wards Act, and also the Letters Patent of the Madras High Court. Letters Patent: After the Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the rule of the East India Company came to an end and Queen Victoria took over the rule of British India and became the Queen Empress. In 1862 under her with her as the Fountainhead of Justice, Law, Equity and Fairplay, Fairplay, an act was passed under which she issued Letters Patent, which means letters which are not secret but are open to be read by all. Given under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, the High Court of Judicature at Madras for the Presidency of Madras was established. Earlier there was a Supreme Court Adjudicature at Madras and also courts known as Sudder Dewany Adalat and all of them became merged into the High Court. The Sudder Courts were abolished. Her Majesty by issue of such Letters Patent gave the powers and also set limitation limitationss for the exercise of Original, Civil, and Criminal jurisdiction jurisdic tion of the High Court. Such powers which the High Court derived under the Letters Patent could be taken up on appeal under what is legally known as Letters Patent Appeal. Normally such appeals are against the judgements of cases decided by a single High Court judge sitting on the Original Side. Invariably they are concerned about matters of law and not always about the facts of the case.) In the petition before the High Court, the Raja the petitioner, appeared in person without any counsel representing represen ting him, even though he was well aware that he would be pitted against some of the brightest legal minds of the day of the Madras High Court. Not many are aware that the Raja was advised to appear in person for more than one reason, viz., it would prove to the High Court Bench that he was not insane or mentally deficient, and secondly, his personal appearance and arguing the case would invoke the sympathy and considerate hearing from the two Indian judges. The then Advocate-General of the Madras High Court Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Krishnas wamy Ayyar appeared app eared for f or the Court of o f Wards. Wards. Sir Alladi as he was then known and continues to be known across the breadth

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and length of the country and even beyond, was one of the legendary stars of the Indian legal firmament. Born in humble circumstances with no advantages of any kind, he made his way to reach the top of the ladder and then scrape the skies of success by his sheer brilliance, unceasing industry and phenomenal memory. He was also deeply involved in the drafting of the Constitution of India though regrettably his role was sidelined due to political and communal considerations. For the minor children another legendary lawyer of Madras T. R. Venkatarama Shastri appeared along with K. Kuttikrishna Menon (later Advocate-General of the Madras High Court) and V. K. Thiruvenkatachari (also later an Advocate-General of the Madras High Court) and S. Parthasarathy. These two brilliant lawyers were represented in court by a young rising lawyer, K. R. Vepa who later made a mark not only as a lawyer but also as a successful stock market investor and analyst. He was the nephew of another legal legend of the Madras High Hig h Court Sir Vepa Vepa Ramesam (after a brilliant bri lliant career as lawyer at Madras he was elevated to the Bench as judge and on some occasions officiated as the Chief Justice, besides his legal brilliance, he was also a top flight mathematician and astronomer and a strong votary of family planning and birth control at a time those expressions were not known to many! The Raja of Vizianagaram belonged to an ancient family and was the foremost among the zamindars of the Madras Presidency. The income of his estate during 1930s was about 22 lakhs, the highest in the province. Those were the happy days when sovereign gold sold at less than Rs. 14 and a gallon of petrol was on tap at 6 annas (thirtysix paise). One of the Raja’s ancestors was a man of great distinction and a loyal friend of the British Crown in recognition rec ognition of which he was invested with the personal title of Maharaja Maharaj a of Vizianagaram Vizianagaram and made ma de a G.C.I.E. (Grand Commander of the Indian Empire). The Raja was of the firm opinion that it was not necessary for his children to be removed from the familiar surroundings and ambience causing deep mental anguish to himself and also to the children. At that time there were many aristocratic institutions in Northern India


where children of status and position like minors could be admitted. One such institution was the famous Mayo College in Ajmer, which the then Prince of Wales later the Duke of Windsor described as “the Eton of India” (Eton was one of the most exclusive public schools of England where only blue blooded aristocrats and extremely wealthy people could gain admission. One such non-maharaja who studied in that school was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Duke of Wellington, the great British warrior commented, “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton and Rugby”.) The Court of Wards challenged the Raja’ Raj a’ss right to file the petition pet ition on the ground that under the Court of Wards Act it had become invested with a discretionary power which cannot be questioned or controlled by a court of law unless it is shown that it has acted fraudulently fraudulently,, corruptly or maliciously. maliciously. It also took the stand that the High Hi gh Court had no jurisdiction on the ground that the minor children of the Raja were residing at Vizag which was outside the local limits of the Original Side civil jurisdiction of the High Court. The Raja’s contention was that he was an affectionate father, mentally sound and the action that the Court of Wards proposed to take the children away from him would drive any man insane! The Raja was educated at the exclusive exclusi ve Mayo College, Ajmer Ajme r, and obtained the Chief’ Chief ’s College Diploma. That was not all. He held the license of an air pilot and had extensively travelled throughout India and also Great Britain and the European continent. The Government had given him license to drive a car and to also possess modern firearms and modern ammunition. Two competent doctors, one of whom belonged b elonged to the Indian Medical Service (IMS), and also served as the principal of the Medical College, Vizagapattam, had certified that he was free from any mental disorder. Raja also remarked that his children were of tender age, the girls being 14 and 10, 10, and the boys being being 12 and 9. The boys were being educated by him at school in Vizagapattam and each of them had a whole time graduate tutor and the two girls were being taught by European Roman Catholic nuns… the Raja quoted in his statement…

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“I see no sense in the children being separated from their countrymen and in their having no manner of education in their own language. India is not a barbaric country: it has schools and colleges some of which are as good as the best of them in England. Just as black bears cannot survive in arctic regions while white bears can, my children may not be able to survive the severe cold of winter in England while English children are generally able to do so. The severity of the English Englis h cold is such that a large number of English people leave England and go to the south of France in the winter, the percentage of British Indians of India going for school education as compared with those going for collegiate and post-school study is almost nil”. The nearest relations of the minors were besides their father the Raja, their mother Rani of Vizianagaram, their uncle Maharajkumar of Vizianagar Vizianagaram am (popularly known as Vizzy), Vizzy), and their grandmother gran dmother the Dowager Rani of Vizianagaram. [Vizzy also created history [Vizzy his tory by having his own cricket cricke t team known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram XI and he brought as members of his team, the legendary English opening pair of Jack Hobbs (later Sir Jack, the first cricketer to be knighted) and Herbert Scutcliffe. This iconic opening pair played in Madras drawing huge crowds of cricket loving and knowing public. Interestingly the local idol, M. J. Gopalan got both of them out for paltry scores of two figures. During that day only those who knew the nuances of cricket and also played the game in some manner came to watch matches, and not those who wanted to be seen on the ground by their peers and hardly any women came to watch the matches except those who were white skinned.] The Court of Wards stated that its decision to send the minor children to England was taken after duly consulting the four abovementioned relations who had approved of it all excepting the Raja. Somewhat interestingly during the argument of the case a proposal was condemned by every relation other than the Rani of Vizianagaram! And the Dowager Rani supported the Raja in his stand.


Venkatasubba Rao commented comment ed that what should really matter was the welfare of the minors and not the opinions of others whoever whoe ver they might be, and if in their welfare the decision to take them to England was not in their interest the Court of Wards should not hesitate to revise its decision and allow mere prestige to be a stumbling block in its way. Sir Alladi raised an interesting point in support of his client The Court of Wards, it was an issue of jurisdiction. He stated that the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court would not extend beyond its original civil jurisdiction, jurisdict ion, in other words, that it would be limited to the city of Madras and not outside like Vizianagaram. Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao did not agree with this point however subtle it might be and said, “here the minors are within the Madras Presidency but outside Madras City, but it makes no dif difference…. ference…. If I am correct in this view the High Court possesses undoubted jurisdiction in regard to the minors even if they are resident outside the limits of the Presidency-town viz Madras City…. The Raja of Vizianagaram Vizianagaram owns a valuable and spacious house h ouse at Madras, Admiralty House, for which he pays the rates, has an establishment there and resides in it during his visits to the city at frequent intervals”. interval s”. His Lordship quoted an old judgement of a British court, “generally if a party has two or three establishments every one of them may be called his residence and not less so because he may not go there for some years. If he keeps up an establishment in it, the place is still his residence”. [During that hectic period, streets and roads in Madras City were deserted excepting for army trucks plying and motorcycle-riding soldiers tearing down the streets at high speed. Schools and colleges were closed and even the Madras High Court was shut down for some period. Many houses sported the board ‘to let’ and a popular Tamil weekly magazine magazi ne published a famous famou s cartoon… in it two rural men walk down the streets of Madras and noticing so many ‘to let’ boards, one remarks that the ‘to let’ dorai must be such a rich man owning so many buildings. It is difficult to imagine imagi ne a traffic-free Madras today but it did happen during those days of the Second World War. The Japanese did bomb Madras but the damage was negligible.]

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As it often happens with regal mansions, there were strong rumours in those days that the Admiralty House was haunted by a female ghost believed to be that of a queen who was either murdered or committed suicide. In conclusion the officiating Chief Justice wrote in his judgement, “in the result an injunction will issue restraining the Court of Wards from removing the minors out of the Province or otherwise interfering with them or exercising any sort of control over them, subject to the condition the directions of this High Court may be applied for by an party interested in regard to the removal to any place within the limits of British India”. The other judge who sat on the Division Bench, Mr. Justice Venkataramana Rao agreed in principle princi ple with the opinion and judgement given by the officiating Chief Justice. Discussing the mental condition of the Raja which was questioned by the Court of War Wards, ds, his Lordship stated, “… for the purpose of the Court of Wards Wards Act, it may be open to the Court of Wards to treat the Raja as nonexistent but we cannot shut our eyes to what has been going on in court. The Raja has conducted his case in person. He has done it with considerable sobriety and moderation and we have watched him carefully. It is difficult for any court to treat him as a pers pe rson on of un unsou sound nd mi mind nd… … no co court urt of la law w wo woul uldd be ju justi stifie fiedd in ign ignor oring ing the wishes of Raja as father and in not giving due weight to that. From what has transpired and the attitude of the Court of Wards, the Raja’s apprehension cannot be said to be unfounded, viz, that the minors are being sent away so that his relations with them would be permanently cut off and he be prevented from having any access to them for a considerable time to come. No court of law could tolerate such a conduct. I therefore agree in the order proposed by My Lord the Chief Justice M. Venkatasubba Rao”. Thus came to a close one of the sensational cases of the day in which Venkatasubba Rao took a bold stand,ich was warmly appreciated by the public not only in the Vizag district but also the entire Madras Presidency.


GOLLAPROLU CASE

One of the sensational civil cases of the early decades of the 20th century, a ‘cause celebre’ was then popularly known as the Gollaprolu Case. It related to the adoption of an impartible zamindari estate of Pitapur, one of the wealthiest estates of those days, situated in the rich fertile land of the Telugu-speaking areas of the old Madras Presidency during British rule. It is interesting to note that there were many such zamindari estates belonging to the landed landed gentry and feudal feudal lords, regarding adoption adoption cases which were quite common. Many of them were fought bitterly by the parties concerned over property with most of them going up and further up from the lower court levels at the district courts right up to the distant Privy Council in London through the Madras High Court, where they came up on appeal. As the stakes were high, top lawyers of the Madras High Court including British barristers and Mylapore vakils took up these cases being engaged at high fee. Such Mylapore lawyers made a sizeable fortune appearing for one zamindar or the other, invariably over adoption cases! Some lawyers at the top with a philosophical bent of mind were convinced that their fortune fort une was built on the tragedy trage dy,, grief and sorrow of the life of such rich men and women and made them the target of the losing parties to a suit. They sincerely believed such curses destroyed their family and personal lives. A fabulously successful lawyer, one of the icons of the Madras Bar and sometime President of the Indian National Congress, Sreeman S. Srinivasas Ayyangar told his intimate friends that because of such curses he had lost his beloved wife early, early, and thereafter his family family life life was was far from happy with his only daughter S. Ambujamma Ambujammall becoming a widow young in

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life. Though later she made a mark as a social worker and female movement activist in Madras, establishing a popular women’s women’s welfare association Srinivasa Sriniva sa Gandhi Nilayam in Mylapore, Madras. It all began with the Gollaprolu Case in 1919 when the then Maharaja of Pitapur filed a suit in the Subordinate Judge’s Court, Rajamundry (now Rajamahendravaram) Rajamahendravaram) and later transferred to the District Court of East Godavari. The maharaja sought a declaration that the adoption ad option of a boy Venkata Venkata Rao by b y Rani Venkayamma Bahadur (first defendant in the suit) was invalid. invali d. She was the widow of another Venkatrao who was the younger brother of an earlier deceased Raja of Pitapur, Sri Krishnarao Bahadur (second defendant). The plaintiff claimed that the adoption was invalid and not binding on him for he claimed to be the nearest ‘reversionary heir’ to the said Venkatarao who was dead. The property known as the Gollaprolu Estate was granted in 1869 by the then Maharaja of Pitapur to the deceased Venkatara enkataraoo his younger brother in lieu of his maintenance. Zamindaris are known as impartible estates which in law means that they cannot be partitioned among the sons and the eldest son succeeds to the estate with the others getting a maintenance. Venkatarao who received the Gollaprolu Estate for such maintenance died in 1871 without children. In 1886 his widow adopted a boy, which was set aside by court in 1891. Obviously a strong willed woman who would never take no for an answer, she again adopted another boy in 1914. This boy (second defendant) was the son of Ramakrishna, who in turn was the adopted son of the late Raja of Pitapur. The defence case was that the adoption was perfectly valid because the consent of other male members of the family including cousins was duly obtained by the Rani. Another point raised against the plaintiff was that he who questioned the adoption was not a natural born son of his father and so he had no right to question the adoption. Therefore two important points arose for decision, one the status of the plaintiff and two, the validity of the second defendant’s adoption.


Expectedly the case had a checkered and long career climbing the stately steps and seemingly endless corridors of many a court of law in the Presidency. In the first instance the Godavari District Judge held in favour of the plaintiff on every point and held that the adoption was invalid. An appeal was duly filed by the defendant to the Madras High Court which came up for hearing before Mr. Justice Mutha Venkatasubba Rao and Mr. Justice Cheruvuri Krishnan. (Interestingly the sprawling bungalow of Judge Krishnan known as Shenstone Park was later purchased from his widow by Sir Mutha and Lady Andal where Madras Seva Sadan is now situated.) The appeal came up for hearing before the Division Bench and though their Lordships confirmed the status of the plaintiff there was difference of opinion about the other point, viz, the defendant’s adoption. Mr. Justice Krishnan held that the adoption was invalid while Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao said it was valid. The appeal was eventually dismissed. A Letters Patent appeal was filed before the same High Court which came up before bef ore a Full Bench Benc h of three judges, judg es, Mr. Justice Justic e C.V. C.V. Kumaraswami Shastriar, Shastri ar, Mr. Mr. Justice Odgers and Mr. Justice Just ice Jackson. In this appeal only the question of adoption was argued. Their Lordships Odgers and Jackson both Britishers who came to Madras from England agreed with Mr. Justice Krishnan, while Mr. Justice Kumaraswami Shastriar agreed agre ed with his former apprentice, Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao. An appeal was duly filed with the Privy Council which after a preliminary hearing remanded the case back to Madras for finding the defendant’s status after admitting in the oral and documentary evidence led in a previous case between the plaintiff and the adopted son of Raja of Pitapur. That case came up before a Full Bench at Madras consisting of their Lordships Jackson, Pandrang Rao and Butler. However the Privy Council in that case upheld uphel d the adoption of the second defendant and dismissed the plaintiff’ plaintiff ’s suit.

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It is a point of interest that the Privy Council upheld the finding findi ng on every point of Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao. In finding about the status stat us of the plaintiff, plaintif f, Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao stated st ated in his own characteristic manner, “on the whole I am prepared though not without hesitation, hesit ation, to concur in the finding of the Trial Court that the plaintiff is the son of the late Raja and Rani Mangayamma”. On this point their Lordships of the Privy Council stated, “they think it is unnecessary to say more than that they are not prepared to disagree with the findings of the Madras High Court upon it.” (The Privy Council considered itself as a legal advisory body and all their judgements would end with the final statement stateme nt that they humbly advise His Majesty either to dismiss an appeal or allow it. This is because His Majesty the King of England was believed to be the fountainhead fountainh ead of Justice, Justice , Equity and Fairplay Fairp lay.) .) Another point raised by the Maharaja was that the widow did not seek his consent for the adoption, which she should have. On this point Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao remarked, “the question of the plaintiff’ss parentage was, at any rate, not free from doubt, the court plaintiff’ on the previous occasion having given its decision against him a duty is cast upon the widow to apply for consent and when she performs that duty her act cannot be questioned on the ground that her motives were bad.” The Maharaja submitted that he rightly withheld his consent. On this aspect Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao said, “I have come to the conclusion that the plaintiff approached the question with a biased mind and rendered himself incapable to be a proper judge of the transaction. I have come to the further conclusion that he was influenced by improper and selfish motives in refusing his consent and that the reasons on which he asks now to justify his refusal are utterly unsound. When it is proved that he, a close relation known in Hindu Law as ‘sapinda’ is actuated by corrupt or malicious motives his dissent may be disregarded”.


As the Privy Council says the six judgements in which whi ch the validity of the adoption was discussed disclosed a remarkable divergence of legal opinion on almost every question involved. invol ved. But it is interesting to note that almost in every such question, the learned opinion of our present officiating Chief Justice (Sir Venkatasubba Rao) prevailed with their Lordships of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The judgements on various points given by Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao which found favour with the British judges in London was in those days talked about as well deserved laurels for the officiating Chief Justice of Madras. Indeed, cases of adoption of feudal lords of the Madras Presidency, Presidency, which began around the middle of the 19th century, deserve a detailed study for the benefit of students of law and also as social history of the early decades of the Madras Presidency. The wealth of material is still available in various legal reports in possibly fading court records but sadly the will to document them all is lacking.

Mr. Justice Venkatasubb Venkatasubbaa Rao was never known know n to have practised practi sed Criminal Law during his fertile innings on the Original Origina l Side and even as judge it was believed he rarely rarel y sat on a Criminal Bench. According to some old-time lawyers only once he presided over the High Court’s Original Criminal Sessions which tried crimes committed within the city limits. The Jury System was then in existence and a jury of nine persons (unlike twelve in the West) heard the cases and they were the sole judges of fact while the presiding High Court judge held control of the Law. Law. Interestingly Interesti ngly if the verdict verdi ct of the jury was unanimous unani mous the pres pr esid idin ingg ju judg dgee ha hadd no op opti tion on th than an to ag agre reee wi with th it an andd de deli live verr ju judg dgem emen entt accordingly.. If it was a split verdict, say like accordingly lik e 7-2, 6-3, he could disagree with the jury, discharge it and order for a fresh trial before another High Court judge. This jury system worked extremely well in those days, but for many reasons not very clear and somewhat political, the

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High Court Original Criminal Sessions was abolished during the mid 1950s and a hoary tradition vanished with a single sweep. During that period the dock in the court in which the accused stood with armed constables on either side, had its floor made of wood and by an arrangement it could be slided to reveal a staircase down below leading to the special police lockup inside the court premises. After the court rose for the day the accused would be let down with the cops in armed attendance and taken away in a police vain kept ready to the prison. This precaution was taken to prevent any of the prisoner’s friend and colleagues to attempt atte mpt to kidnap him. After the abolition of the Sessions it all vanished and one sees the accused prisoner being slaughtered by his enemies and others sometimes in open court and most often in the compound. Such instances never happened in those happy times. In a case, a man of impeccable character and respect was the executor of a wealthy estate in Guntur, then part of the Madras Presidency. Due to personal and communal ill-will, and manipulations manipulation s by his enemies known and unknown, he found himself in the dock charged with the misappropriation of a mere motorcar belonging to the estate. The Prosecution for many unknown reasons showed unhealthy interest in the matter and sought to damn the person and put him in priso prison. n. After the magis magisteria teriall inqui inquiry ry he was duly comm committed itted to Sessions and the case came up for trial before the District Sessions Court at Guntur. The Public Prosecutor went hammer and tongs at the unfortunate executor trying to condemn him with every question during cross-examination. The District Judge, a member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) was easily able to see through the Prosecution’s game and in his own cross examination of the principal witness for the Prosecution, he smashed him to smithereens and the case collapsed like a pack of playing cards. In his address to the assessors, (the members of the jury in the district were known as ‘assessors’) directed the members to return a verdict of not guilty and made scathing remarks of the conduct of the Public Prosecutor for his unusual and even unprofessional interest in condemning the accused. Somewhat


surprisingly, the then Government of Madras filed an appeal against the acquittal which came up before a Division Bench consisting of Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao who promptly dismissed the appeal making suitable remarks about its maintainability. In another case, a wealthy Nambudri landlord land lord from the then Malabar districts of the Madras Presidency, now part of Kerala, a personal servant of the rich Nambudri attacked him while his master was fast asleep inflicting as many as twenty two cuts with a knife. However the much-stabbed victim managed to survive the scathing attack. A case was filed against the servant for attempt to murder and he was sent to trial before the District Court. Surprisingly Surpris ingly when the trial began, the Public Prosecutor stood up and announced that the police did not want to proceed with the trial as the accused had repented the dastardly act and had been duly forgiven by the Nambudri. The District Sessions Judge called upon upo n the Nambudri and examined him in person in open court. He found that the injuries were too extensive and even dangerous. Accepting the plea of guilty of the accused he sentenced him to two years illustrating that a crime is a sin against society and cannot be compounded by parties at their whim and pleasure. On appeal, Sir Mutha heartily agreed with the stand of the District Judge and complimented him on his fairplay, justice, equity and respect for Law.

One of the courts in the Madras High Court is known as the ‘Library Court’. It came to be known by that name because the small court hall which is more a room, is surrounded by glass bookshelves filled with books of Law. Law. In the earlier earlie r decades it did not n ot have a dais for the th e judge to sit and their Lordships Lordships sat at the same level as the the lawyers. The ambience was interestingly very friendly without the dignity of the court being affected. The well-known Original Side lawyer of his hi s day V. V. C. Gopalratnam Gopalratn am knew Venkatasubba Rao intimately and had also appeared against him as lawyer and before him as judge. He recalled that as junior

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High Court judge soon after his appointment, Venkatasubba Rao sat on the Division Bench along with Sir Vepa Ramesam, one of the legendary figures of the Madras High Court in the library court. Gopalratnam recalled, recalled , “… the atmosphere was so homely and friendly that the argument in the cases appeared more like informal chats betwee bet weenn cou counse nsell and the jud judges, ges, than for formal mal spe speeche echess and sub submis mission sionss by lawyers. The two Lordships would often exchange views quite loudly in their mother mot her tongue Telugu Telugu in which some of the advocates ad vocates would also join them! All the same, the respect and dignity of the forensic atmosphere in that court never suffered even a little”.

In an interesting case which came up before Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao in 1934, the legal question was the presumption pre sumption of legitimacy of a child under Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act. Sitting as a single judge, he declared that the word ‘access’ in the section was a question of fact [between the couple] in every case and should strictly be proved. However a Privy Council judgement delivered earlier earli er on the same point held a contrary view vie w, reported the local law journals journ als in the same year. The Judicial Committee Co mmittee in London Londo n declared in that case that under Section 112 access meant no more than an opportunity for sexual intimacy and not for sexual cohabitation. In the face of such contrary judgement, any judge other than Venkatasubba Rao would have tried to t o change his views, but Sir Mutha did not, and allowed his judgements to be published in the Legal Report, because he knew that his point of view would be upheld by the Privy Council soon after in some other case. Interestingly, his views were affirmed by brilliant lawyer Sir John Wallis, a member of the Judicial Committee (who was earlier Chief Justice of the Madras High Court) who clarified the meaning of access to be “effective access’ thereby proving that that Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao was right. right. As a judge Venkatasubba Rao was never influenced by any consideration personal or otherwise, other than the merits of the case in coming to his decision. Well known lawyer, judge of the Madras High Court and later Supreme Court and Classical Carnatic Music


scholar T. L. Venkatarama Aiyer recalls recall s a case which highlights hi ghlights this aspect… An advocate of standing was arguing before Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao pressing a proposition of law with considerable insistence about the validity of his viewpoint. His Lordship did not agree with him and plied him with a good number of questions with a view to test the soundness of his contention. But the answers of the learned advocate were far from convincing. Anyway the advocate went on repeating what he had said and His Lordship shook his head to convey the meaning that he did not agree! The advocate then said, “Your Lordship may shake your head but that does not answer my contention”. Thereafter the learned judge ceased to put questions and silently listened to whatever the advocate spoke. After nearly a quarter of an hour tick-tocked away in such fashion, the advocate realised that he was making no impression on the judge, and said, “Your Lordship will not bear in mind the unfortunate words which had escaped me”. His Lordship replied, “If I had taken your words seriously I should have stopped you then and there. I am hearing you so that you can even now convince me if you can.” Venkatasubba Rao was anxious as ever not merely that he should do justice, but be seen to be doing justice and the party concerned should not leave the court with the impression that a good case had been lost owing to the fault of the counsel. Such was Sir Mutha…

As already noticed when whe n Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao became a judge, there was an impression especially from the lawyers practising on the Appellate Side that he was not familiar with several legal topics which come up for consideration in appeals concerning civil law. T. L. Venkatarama Aiyer recalls another incident…shortly after Venkatasubb enkatasubbaa Rao was elevated to the Bench a Civil Revision Revisi on Petition (CRP) under Section 115 of the Civil Procedure Court (CPC) came up for consideration before him in which Aiyer appeared for the petitioner. The respondent respondent took the preliminary objection that it was not maintainable in law and no question of jurisdiction was involved

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and therefore it should be dismissed straightaway. straightaway. His Lordship called upon Aiyer to argue his point of the case fully and exhaustively quoting the necessary leading cases governing that point of law. law. The argument on this point alone took two long days and at the end the learned Judge dismissed the Revision Petition on the grounds that it was not a fit case for interference by the High Court. Understandably Venkatarama Aiyer wondered why it was necessary for the judge to hear such lengthy arguments over two days on the scope of the jurisdiction when the case could have been disposed on that short point quickly quickly.. Aiyer then then found found that his Lordship Lordship was availing availing every every opportunity presented presented to him of studying the law, and leading cases on subjects with which he was not yet familiar and it was by such proces pro cesss he acq acqui uired red a so sound und kno knowle wledge dge of law rel relati ating ng to the Impartible Impartib le Estates Act (succession of zamindars), Estates Land Act, Service Grant and other subjects about which Original Side lawyers were mostly unfamiliar for they did not have an opportunity oppor tunity to conduct such cases relating to such Acts. Another instance instan ce recalled by Venkatara Venkatarama ma Aiyer… technical pleas and hair splitting of legal points rarely found favour with Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao… Venkatarama Aiyer appeared for the respondent in a Civil Revision Petition which came up for hearing before his Lordship. The petitioner was the plaintiff plainti ff in a suit he had filed in the lower court to recover money advanced as loan. The defendant pleaded with success the Law of Limitation and his claim was barred by efflux of time. The plaintiff who lost the case filed a revision and the learned judge at the very beginning beginning observed that the the accounts accounts filed in proof of the loan showed clearly that there were cross dealings between the parties concerned and the suit was actually one to recover the balance due on a mutual, mutual, open, running, current current account which was was well in time. Venkataram enkataramaa Aiyer pleaded plead ed that it would woul d mean his Lordship Lords hip giving relief on a cause of action on which the suit was not based. His Lordship observed that regard must be had to the true nature of the transaction and not what the party thought it was. Aiyer replied that


no application was made in the lower court for amending the claim. His Lordship replied that he would proceed on an oral application of the amendment. Aiyer then requested his Lordship that the matter might be remanded to the lower court for considering the application for amendment. His Lordship commented that he would himself order it! Mr. Aiyer asked, “why should your Lordship do the work of a District Munsiff?” He replied, “Mr. Venkatarama Aiyer I am prepared to do the work of even a village munsiff to do justice!”. As the former Supreme Court judge remarked, “Justice never failed before Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao and that is the greatest tribute that can be ever paid to a judge”.

Venkatasubba Rao always kept an open mind and once his mind was made up in deciding a case, he stood firm as a rock. He did not hesitate to differ from his colleague whether Indian or British when he considered that his conclusion was right. It made no difference to him who the parties before him were or the counsel arguing ar guing the cases. He never feared any man but feared only God…

The well-known Appellate Side lawyer of his day was P. N. Appuswami who also als o made a mark as a writer in Tamil under his pen name ‘Pena’. He wrote frequently on many subjects in the well known Tamil weekly weekl y ‘Ananda Vikatan’ and was a pioneer in writing in Tamil Tamil on science and allied subjects, which nobody had attempted earlier. He recalls an interesting case in which he was involved and came up for hearing before Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao. It was a second appeal in which two parties fought bitterly for all their worth right up to the High Court level from the lower courts from the district, and there was a third party who was hopelessly jammed in between the two. Thus it was a tripartite fight which is rare in second appeals. Feelings ran high among the parties and both sides of the appeal spared no money and effort, engaging senior counsel when it came up for hearing at the Madras High Court. At first the

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case was posted in the list of Mr. Justice Odger. But the respondent was happy not without reason. The judge had the reputation that he often upheld whatever the lower court had decided as right and usually dismissed second appeals without a second thought. However the appellant’s lawyer proved too smart and somehow managed to have the case taken out of the British judge’s list and got it included in Justice Venkatasubba Rao’s list of second appeals. It was strongly rumoured that the lawyer had manipulated at the High Court office level to get his requirement and there was even an enquiry about it but it yielded no results. When the appeal came up for hearing before Justice Just ice Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao, he made an unusual request by asking the opposing counsel to sit at the extreme right and left of the lawyer’s table. This was the method he sometimes followed. follo wed. To To quote Pena, “I wondered whether he felt that each would then have an equal ear of his or whether each might not then interrupt the other, or whether he merely wanted to keep them both distinct in his mind. When they were so seated, seeing my name in the Cause List (list of cases posted before a judge) he looked at me and asked me on which side I stood. When I told him how I was caught in the middle of the two he told me, ‘Mr.Appuswami ‘Mr. Appuswami then sit right in the middle, in front of me!’ and I did”. When the case was opened the appellant was explaining a plan to the judge when Sir Mutha noticed that the respondent’s lawyer was shaking his head in vigorous protest. As he always wanted the basic facts to be got at first he asked the respondent’s lawyer to explain his position. As As he began to state it the judge saw that the appellant’ appellant’ss lawyer was now shaking his head as vigorously as his professional colleague. When he looked at Mr. Appuswami he found that the lawyer was ‘stricken with the same kind of shaking fit!’. When he asked Mr. Mr. Appuswami , “is not n ot the respondent’ respon dent’ss counsel right?” He replied ‘No.’. Then is the appellant counsel right?” Again he said “no”. Smiling his Lordship asked, “Is the lower appellate court right?” the lawyer replied “no”. “Is at least the first court right?” the lawyer again agai n said “no”. “Then Mr. Appuswami who on earth ea rth is right?” right ?”


Aware that the judge had a good sense of humour, Appuswami replied, “ My Lord I am caught between these two who are fighting each other tooth and nail. I therefore feel, in a manner of speaking, that I am in the same position as your Lordship!” Sir Mutha shot back, “Have you succeeded in trying to know the correct explanation of the plan?” The lawyer replied that he believed he had and Sir Mutha remarked, “you seem to be right”. Later he called the lawyers concerned to his chambers to settle the case by mediation and put searching questions to all the three lawyers including Appuswami. In due course he delivered judgement on a mutually agreed basis which appeared to have pleased all the fighting concerned. Justice was not only done but was also seemed to have been done as the expression goes, and all left his chambers in a happy frame of mind, forgetting that a short while earlier they had been fighting like a pair of Kilkenny cats known for their rage, especially when in heat. The humane judge always believed that justice was not a bitter medicine nor a mere sugar coated pill, but was the essence of fairness and equity. During that era the Civil Jurisdiction of the Original Side was a humming beehive of activity, activity, with many cases filed and coming up for hearing before a single High Court judge. Being a court of trial, it gave ample opportunity for lawyers of merit and with infinite capacity for taking pains had ample scope to make their way up the ladder of fame and fortune. Venkatasubba Rao and Radhakrishnayya made an excellent team of lawyers, one complementing the other. Radhakrishnayya was considered as one of the masters of legal drafting during his day and excelled in writing plaints, written statements, affidavits and other legal documents necessary for the case. He had considerable mastery and command over the English language in drafting various legal documents without being verbose and indulging in mere pyrotechnics of language. However, he lacked the gift of the gab as the expression goes, and Venkatasubba Rao with his oratorical skills and excellence in presentation of cases and also his skills of cross examination proved complementary thus contributing to the enormous success of the talented twosome.

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Besides, Venkatasubba Rao had the support and patronage of Subbaiah Chetti, his father-in-law and a successful attorney with a wide clientele clientel e especially among the members of his Vysya Vysya community. By tradition this community consisted of mostly businessmen and wealthy persons and not surprisingly there was considerable scope for court cases emanating from the affairs of the members of the mercantile clan. Soon Venkatasubba Rao-Radhakrishnayya made a mark on the Original Side and built up a large practice, which won them besides name and fame, a fortune too. They were aware that there was much competition from other vakils mainly belonging to the Brahmin community and also British barristers of the city. But undaunted by such factors these two brilliant men forged ahead to success and then more success. During that period elevation of lawyers to the Bench of High Court was done taking into consideration factors like merit, their standing and stature at the Bar, their income and of course the qualities and character of the person. It was a happy period- sadly now vanished when political considerations did not exist as they do today. The British Indian Government did make concessions on caste and community regarding the appointment, but they were invariably done with merit as one of the main considerations and not mainly which caste or clan the prospective judge belonged. During that period the dyarchy system was in force and there was limited participation by political parties holding power as ministers running the Government Governmen t from the Fort St. George. For many political reasons the Indian National Congress kept away from the political scene and the South Indian Liberal Federation more popularly known as the Justice Party was in power for many years almost uninterruptedly until 1937. The Justice Party played a great role in the political history of the then sprawling Madras Presidency and it is interesting to take a close look at the history of this party which did have an indirect bearing on the career and future of Venkatasubba Rao.


When Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao was elevated to the Bench, the Justice Party was holding fort and even though Venkatasubba Rao had no interest in politics or narrow political politi cal leanings, the Justice Party watched his progress and growth and the official publication of the party, ‘Justice’ covered much of his social and cultural activities. activit ies. The regional parties of Tamil Nadu, Dravida Kazhagam (DK), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Anaithu India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have all descended from their alma mater, the Justice Party, which was a moving force in the old Madras Presidency during 1920s-1930s. 1920s-1930s . That was the period when the British ruled India and the Justice Party captured power in the provincial elections and ruled the Madras Presidency for many years till 1937. The story of the Justice Party forms part of the socio-political history of India.

After the passing of The Government of India Act of 1935, several political polit ical refor reforms ms were intro introduced duced in the count country ry and legi legislati slative ve assembly with people’s representatives were introduced for the first time in the history of modern India. General elections were held in the Madras Presidency in 1937 and the Justice Party leaders were trounced and most of them were unceremoniously unseated. The Indian National Congress party which contested the elections for the first time, swept the polls. Rajaji was elected as the leader of the Congress Legislative Party and became the Premier of Madras in 1937. A feudal had come to a close and a new democratic order rose on the horizon…

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CHIEF JUSTICE-CONTROVERSY

Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao had ha d officiated of ficiated as the Chief Chi ef Justice of the Madras High Court on several occasions and the Bar and members of the public expected rightly that he would be made the permanen perm anentt Chie Chieff Justi Justice ce of Madr Madras, as, thus bege begetting tting the hono honour ur of bein beingg the first Indian India n to adorn such a high office offi ce in the Madras Presidency Presi dency.. But regrettably, regrettably, the British Indian Government had other ideas mainly because of political consider considerations ations and the hesitati hesitation on in appointi appointing ng an Indian as the Chief Justice, and especially a bold and dynamic person like Venkatasubba Rao who would not toe their line even under pressure play second fiddle to the British Rulers. Consequently, Consequently, his hi s legitimate claim to the high office was ignored by the British Indian rulers and Mr. Justice Lionel Leach, then a judge of the Rangoon High Court, was brought to Madras to be appointed as the Chief Justice. Lionel Leach (later Sir Lionel) was unknown to the members of the Madras Bar excepting those who might have seen his name in reported judgements of the Rangoon High Court. There was considerable criticism over the non-appointment of Venkatasubba Rao as the Chief Justice, and many eminent citizens publicly public ly expres expressed sed their disapp disapproval. roval. The most import important ant of them was Sir C. P. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, Aiyer, one of the legal l egal legends legen ds of Madras, Madra s, who was then the Dewan of the Travancore, a maharaja ruled state. He wrote strong articles in legal publications expressing his criticism without flinching words for overlooking Venkatasubba Rao who was intimately known to him during his lawyer days and also in other social and cultural activities acti vities in the city. The British Indian Indian Government always always following a Divide and Rule Policy and virtually pitch-forked Lionel Leach into the chair of the Chief Justice of Madras. With strong,


traditional, conservative outlook on men and matters, Sir Lionel was a strict person, which did not endear him to the Bar and the public who had anything to do with courts. During that period when the controversy raged there were wild rumours in Madras that Sir Mutha would resign his judgeship as a mark of protest against the superscession of his claims to the high office of the Chief Justice, to which many thought t hought he was legitimately entitled and deserving. He had officiated as the Chief Justice on two occasions as the senior most judge, and when the permanent vacancy occurred on the retirement of Sir Owen Beasley, he was expected to step into the vacant chair. During that period there were also rumours that Sir Mutha would contest for the Vice Vice Chancellorship of the Madras University Univer sity expected to fall vacant soon. But he discounted all the rumours as mere rumours. Not many many are aware that that during the discussions discussions in the Council Council of States in Delhi, Delhi , this controversy contr oversy was discussed di scussed hotly. hot ly. Mr. P. P. N. Sapru Sap ru one of the noted members of the Council (son of the famous jurist and top lawyer of India Tej Bahadur Sapru) urged that only the efficiency should be the test of appointment to judges of the High Court and he was not satisfied with the quality of ICS judges whose ignorance of Indian Law and Indian conditions were often commented critically by the public and by the members of the Bar. Bar. In particular he referred to the claims of Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court but was overlooked. He asked with telling impact, “what is this if not racial discrimination?” Another member Ramadas Panthulu also referred to the injustice done to Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao was knighted by the British Government in 1936 in honour of his outstanding ability and contribution contribu tion as a judge of the Madras High Court, which he had served with distinction and dynamism for seventeen long eventful years since his elevation in 1921. He was now Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao.

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MEMBER, DELIMITATION COMMITTEE

In 1935 he was appointed as a Member of the Delimitation Deli mitation Committee of which Sir Lawrie Hammond was the chairman. During mid 1930s the British government felt fel t the necessity to bring in a new constitution for India to face the increasing pressure of the snowballing Indian freedom movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and others. The British cabinet had no option than to come out with a new Act for the Delimitation of the constituencies of the Federal and Provincial Legislatures of India. And during August August 1935 R. A. Butler, Under-Secretary of the State for India announced in the British Parliament that a Delimitation Committee to make recommendations recommendatio ns for the reorganisation of constituencies would be appointed, which would begin work in India in 1936. This was in consequence of the Government of India Act of 1935, under which General Elections was proposed to be held in India which took place in 1937. Earlier under the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, the Dyarchy system was in force, and elections on a limited scale were held in provinces including Madras Presidency. However important portfolios were kept by the British British officers and the not so important important portfolios were were given to the elected ministers. ministers. This proposal did not find favour with the Indian National Congress Party who boycotted the elections held in 1920 and in the Madras Presidency the Justice Party, predominantly Non-Brahmin in its manpower content swept the polls due to the lack of any real opposition, and formed ministries. The Justice Party ruled the Madras Presidency until unti l 1937 when general elections were held. During the elections the Justice Party was


A group picture of the Indian Delimitation Committee which shows (left to right) right) Mr. E.C. Gayner, Asst. Secretary, Mr. Justice M. Venkatasubba Rao, Sir Laurie Hammond, K.C.S.I., Chairman, Khan Bahadur Sheikh Din Muhammad, Mr. J.G. Laithwaite, C.I.E., and Rai Sahib D.N. Mitra at Madras on 10th October 1935.

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trounced and lost face, and the Congress Party swept the polls to form the cabinet at Fort St. George under the leadership of Rajaji… Mr. Butler announced announce d in the British Parliament in London that the Delimitation Committee would consist of three eminent personalities, Sir Lawrie Hammond, former Governor Gover nor of Assam, Mr. Justice Mutha Venkatasubba Rao of the Madras High Court, and Mr. Justice Din Mahomed of the Lahore High Court were appointed members to make recommendation for the Delimitation of constituencies constituencies.. Commenting about the committee a contemporary newspaper editorial observed, “…of Mr. Justice Jus tice Venkatasubba Rao, Rao , the public in [Madras] this province need not be told much. His independence, integrity and all questions came up before that council for decision. He was also a member of the Provincial Franchise Committee in the Punjab and in that capacity had the experience of meeting the Lothian Committee and understanding the viewpoint, viewpoint , particularly of the English members of the Committee. The Hammond Committee met many groups of people across the nation and during October 1935 it held its sittings in Simla. It heard oral evidence from various institutions including representatives of labour, urban and rural interest. Covering the events of the sitting, The Hindu commented, “ Mr. Venkatasubba Rao showed a quick grasp of points made by the witnesses and created a very favourable impression.” During the Committee hearings the three members heard many women witnesses who expressed difficulty of women candidates touring over large constituencies, especially especially in the rural areas of Punjab. That province had considerable Muslim population and the women observed purdah. Some witnesses expressed doubts that such veiled women voters coming to the booths to cast their votes could be misused by impersonation! Reacting to this point Sir Lawrie wondered how impersonation could be prevented by Muslim lady voters in purdah! A suggestion was made that artificial distinctions between urban and rural areas are as was not correct. cor rect. Mr. Mr. Justice Venkatas enkatasubba ubba Rao suggested sug gested


that only five or six big city centres in Punjab like Lahore, Amritsar, Multan, Rawalpindi and Jalandhar should be declared urban areas and the rest of the towns should be merged along with rural areas. The Delimitation Committees work came to a close during January 1936. A unanimous report was prepared and sent to the Secretary of State of India in London (he was a member of the British Cabinet). Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao and Lady Andal Rao became extremely popular during their short stay in Delhi. Commenting about his work, the Hindu wrote, “Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao who took up his work on the Committee with characteristic vigour and thoroughness will probably rejoin the Madras High Court by about February 10th” The Delhi press hosted a tea party in honour of Sir Mutha and Lady Andal which was largely attended by the elite of Delhi which included includ ed Sir Lawrie Lawri e Hammond, Sir Sir C. P. P. Ramaswamy Ayyar, Sir Sir Girija Shankar Bajpai, Dr. John Mathai, (famous economist and later Finance Minister of India for a while) and several others. Indeed an official farewell function was planned which was cancelled owing to the demise of His Majesty King George V in England. A tribute to the work wor k of the Committee was paid by b y R. A. Butler in the British Parliament. The three members toured nearly 10,000 miles in India in three months and produced one of the most interesting, detailed and efficient reports. Interestingly Sir Mutha suggested separate seats for women in the assembly, a thought far ahead of its time, but for many reasons it was not given effect. Indeed the problem of women’s

representation in the Parliament and assemblies has still not been solved to the satisfaction of the fair sex. It is rather sad to reflect that the current generation is almost totally ignorant of the Delimitation Committee in its role in the establishment of the constituencies, federal and provincial, in the country.

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The Government of India introduced a new legislation which would have far-reaching consequences in the political history of India. Known as ‘The Government of India Act of 1935’ it provided among other things, general elections where every citizen who had completed eighteen years of age could vote, irrespective of any educational or property prope rty holdi holding ng qualif qualificati ications. ons. Sadly, the Act also provi provided ded as part of the notorious ‘divide and rule policy’ of the British Government. It created separate constituencies constit uencies in basis of caste, creed and community, community, viz to prevent Indians from coming together and fighting united for the freedom of the country and throwing out the Imperialistic Rulers. Under these provisions separate electorates were created for caste Hindus, scheduled castes, Muslims and such communities, which was nothing short of racism. The aims of the Delimitation Committee were to consider and make recommendations for the delimitation of constituencies for the Federal and Provincial legislatures to be established under the Act. The Federal Legislature came to be known as Legislative Assembly Central, while provincial legislatures were mere known as Legislative Assemblies followed by the name of the province. The Committee that also undertook to decide and mark out the poli po liti tica call an andd ge geog ogra raph phic ical al ma mapp of In Indi diaa fo forr ho hold ldin ingg th thee Ge Gene nera rall El Elec ecti tion ons, s, was formed by the British Government. High court judges, ICS officers and statesmen and such others were brought on board of the Committee and Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao was one of its members. The Committee examined several witnesses drawing them from a wide cross section of the country and Venkatasubba Rao and his fellow members interviewed as many as two hundred of them. One of the meetings took place in Simla during October 1935. Representatives from the press, labour unions, and rural groups, Christian community members gave evidence with each batch being given 30 minutes. Reporting that meeting in Simla, The Hindu dated October 4, 1935 stated s tated ‘Mr. Venkatasub enkatasubba ba Rao showed a quick qui ck grasp of the points made by the witnesses and created a very favorable


impression’. The Committee forming new electoral constituencies, altering some of the existing ones, adding and subtracting from other areas, this exercise took quite some time.

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SIR MUTHA, AGENT OF BERAR

After a long innings as judge, Sir Mutha bade goodbye to the Madras High Court when he retired in 1938 when he was the acting Chief Justice. The British Indian government well aware of his talents, skills and more would not waste such a person to retirement and taking life easy, and neither was Sir Mutha that kind of person. In 1939 he was appointed as the Agent of Berar of the Nizam of Hyderabad. As the first Agent he laid the foundation to devise the pattern and set the traditio traditionn of the unique and high office for which he had no precedent to rely and fall back upon. He even made the ground rules within the given framework. To narrate a slice of history about Nizam and Berar… On October 24, 1936, an agreement was reached between His Majesty the King Emperor of India and His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad, a faithful ally of the British government which recognized and reaffirmed the sovereignty of the Nizam over the districts of Berar. The agreement recited that the Nizam should have the right to maintain an Agent at the seat of the Government of Central Provinces and Berar with its capital in Nagpur, for the purpose of representing the views of the Nizam’s Government, with reference to any matter of common interest to the British Indian Central Provinces and Berar and Hyderabad which would directly affect the interests of Hyderabad. Sir Mutha Muth a Venkatas Venkatasubba ubba Rao was appointed appoi nted as the t he first Agent by the Nizam. His office was at Nagpur as the Agent of Berar, which was earlier part of the Nizam’s Dominions. Those were the Second World War years (1939-1945) and the country count ry faced severe shortages short ages


Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao at the Nizam’s Birthday Parade – 18th August 1939.

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and several things of daily use were rationed and the list included rice, pulses, cloth, wheat, and even potatoes and petrol. Coupons were given to car owners and if they exhausted their coupons they had no option but to seek public transport or walk to their destination! There were petrol-rationing offices which controlled petrol and one could not get even a drop outside, except of course under the counter then known as black market. Some secretaries to the Agent who were young officers of the Hyderabad Civil Service (HCS) filled in petrol ration application forms and brought them to the notice of their boss Venkatasubba Rao. He was furious and refused to fill any forms for his personal use and was quite content to stay at home. The British Collector, the British Resident at Secunderabad, then a cantonment area under British Indian control, and even representatives of the viceroy at Delhi failed to make him change his attitudes and sign the forms for his use. Such was his intellectual honesty and devotion to duty. He was honest to the core and did not hesitate to confess his ignorance. Once while he was travelling with V. Sundaram,

Radhakrishnayya’s eldest son, (who later became a pilot) by train with one of his friends he was curious to know about the alarm chain he saw in the carriage. He had no idea of what it was all about and asked Sundaram how such things worked. Like a curious and eager child he heard with undivided attention Sundaram’s Sundaram’s narration of the vacuum brake, automatic application thereof by the passenger, the signal system, the gadgets to identify the particular carriage, its release mechanism and all. He thanked the youngster for educating him on that aspect of railway travel. (The fine in those days for the improper use of pulling the chain by a passenger was Rs. 50. And today in keeping with the changing times it has been raised to Rs. 500). During the British rule of India the Nizam of Hyderabad was given a special status in preference to the other native rulers like maharajas, rajas, zamindars, nawabs and others. Indeed while all other maharajas had the titular prefix His Highness, he was given the more high sounding title His Exalted Highness (HEH). Such special treatment was given


The Venkatasubba Rao with the Prince of Berar.

The Venkatasubba Rao with their personal staff.

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because of his immense wealth. At one time the Nawab was one of the richest men in the world, ranking next only to the historic billionaires of America, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller. He also had a fabulous collection of diamonds and other precious stones and jewellery whose immense value could not be easily estimated. During those early decades dec ades of the 19th-20th century cent ury,, the area known as ‘Berar’ ‘Berar ’ was part of the Nizam’s Dominions. The heir apparent of the Nizam was given the titular name Prince of Berar like the Prince of Wales, the heir apparent to the British throne. One of the later nawabs had some misunderstandings with the British Empire, dealings in the purchase purchas e of a rare diamond di amond known as ‘Jacob’ ‘J acob’ss Diamond’ which he could not pay in full as stipulated. The British government understandably developed a dislike for this diamond-crazy Nawab and seized the area Berar, and after such seizure it became part of the Central Province, and then renamed as Central Provinces and Berar, with its capital at Nagpur. The CP and Berar High Court was situated in Nagpur. After the reorganization of India on linguistic basis, Nagpur lost its earlier importance and CP and Berar was renamed Madhya Pradesh, with many areas added to Maharashtra including Nagpur Na gpur City. City. Bhopal, which was the seat of the Nawab of Bhopal, a toady of the British, became the new capital of Madhya Pradesh. Pradesh. However However the son of the last Nizam Usman Ali Khan, Musram Jah still called himself as Prince of Berar. After Hyderabad became part of India that is Bharath, the prince migrated to Australia.


SIR MUTHA THE MAN

During late 1920s when Mutha Venkatasubba Rao was a judge of the Madras High Court, the Government of Madras appointed him as member of the Madras Law College Council, an advisory body giving opinions and recommendations towards the working of the famous College. The Council consisted of three judges of the Madras High Court, the Advocate General a former minister (belonging to the Justice Party ) and a prominent lawyer from Madras. During December 1927 the Council made recommendations regarding the appointment of the Principal Prin cipal of the College. Being such an important office and appointment to the College, the opinion of the Council regarding its choice of Principal was unceremoniously ignored by the Governmen Government. t. As a mark of protest and in a decision which was then considered daring for a sitting sit ting judge of the Madras High Court to differ with the government, he resigned his membership members hip of the Council because of their recommendations being ignored. ignored. The The learned judge stated that while their recommendations could not be considered to be mandatory mandatory,, they they should should still consult the Council Council with reference reference to any particular individual individu al it had in view, and find out what the Council had to state regarding the choice of the Principal. He felt that it was elementary courtesy which the Government was bound to extend to the Council which consisted of judges of the High Court, lawyers, and former ministers. The press of that day strongly stood behind his Lordship’s stand, and commenting on his resignation, the mouthpiece of the Justice Party ‘Justice’ wrote editorially, edi torially, “We “We are not surprised that so high an

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Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao as Scout Provincial Commissioner.

Justice Venkatasubba Rao with Lord Baden Powell


authority as Justice Venkatasubba Rao should have effectively expressed his resentment at the action of the Government of Madras.

Not many are aware that Sir Mutha had a keen interest in the Boy Scout movement and was deeply involved with the Madras Boy Scouts. Indeed he was the Provincial Commissioner of the association for a period and he succeeded Dewan Bahadur Kumaraswamy Reddiar. Reddiar. His name was suggested to that high honorary office as early as 1924, but he withdrew withd rew in favour of Sir Si r C. P. Ramaswamy Rama swamy Aiyer who was then the Law Member of the Government of Madras. He had genuine love and interest in the Boy Scout Movement and also served as the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the first Madras Boy Scouts jamboree. He was also the Vice-President of the Provincial Council and President of the Madras District Scout Council and in both such such capacities capacities he rendered meritorious service to the Cause of the Scouts Movement in South India. In recognition of such high meritorious service, in 1929 the Madras District Scouts council voted to award him a gold thanks badge, in recognition of his services servi ces to the movement. But true to his nature, he declined the honour for he felt that his services for the Scout Movement should not receive any form, reward or award. The many amenities which the Boy Scouts of Madras City enjoyed were made possible by his generous influence and support in the building of the Swimming Bath at Wenlock Park. The Governor of Madras Sir George Stanley before he left Madras unveiled a portrait of Sir Mutha at the Provincial Scouts headquarters headquar ters in recognition of his distinguished service to the movement. Sir Mutha also had the unique honour, distinction and privilege of meeting Lord Baden-Powell, the founding father of the Scout Movement during his visit to India.

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Venkatasubba Rao was a kind soul with a generous heart, ever conscious of the pains and problems of his fellow men and women, their stresses and strains, tensions and troubles, irrespective of their social status or any such materialistic considerations. He treated every human being, high or low, big or small, as one and the same, like he would treat himself. This quality is very rare in human beings who have attained success in life. But Venkatasubba Rao had this in abundance with enough to spare. (A few events in his life narrated to this writer during the course of research of this book by his relations and friends, friends , more particularly women who were recipients of his generosity and the unceasingly flowing milk of human kindness…) In those decades, avenues of entertainment for young girls were limited. There was no television, te levision, which was still sti ll in the Womb of Time, Time, and Radio in Madras did not rise on the horizon till mid-1930s. mid -1930s. Movies until 1931 were silent and in those days cinema was looked down upon as an avenue of doubtful value, especially for girls growing up into puberty and thereafter. There was considerable theatre activity in Tamil, Tamil, Telugu and even Kannada Kann ada in the city ci ty,, but that was wa s a restricted restrict ed area to which young girls did not show much interest. Therefore the only avenue of recreation and entertainment for such women, especially those who were economically backward and insecure, was the beach. Madras has a long shoreline on the Bay of Bengal stretching to several miles and many beaches developed by the Government and Corporation of Madras provided happy sources of relief and recreation, recreat ion, entertainment and a nd joy. joy. The most popular beach in those days was the High Court Beach and the now internationally renowned Marina Beach close to Triplicane. The San Thome Thome Beach was also well known, but because of its distance from other parts of the city in those days, it was mainly the venue for those living in Mylapore and surrounding neighborhoods. The High Court Beach, sadly vanished today as a consequence of the expansion and development of the Madras Port, was during those


decades a major attraction for citizens living in what is now known as North Madras. In the decades gone by of the Madras High Court Beach, (it disappeared during the 1950s due to the expansion of the Madras Port) near the sea waters there was a metal pole with loudspeakers atop broadcasting radio programs during the evening hours. Naïve and rustic folks wondered where the song and such were coming from! The magic post? This was referred to in a popular song from the film “En Manaivi”, ‘Sayangala nerathiley samudrakarai orathiley orathile y maayamaana kambam onnu manushan pola paduthaiah!’ (Even-time, besides the sea, a magic-pole magic-pole sings like a man!) man!) In mid-1930s the Corporation of Madras launched the first Radio Broadcasting Station for the benefit and pleasure of the citizens of Madras. Familiarly known as Corporation Radio, the broadcasting was confined to few hours during the evening. The program consisted of news and concerts of classical Carnatic Music and such items of fine arts entertainment. It could be heard only in Madras City limits. Very few are aware that areas like lik e Guindy and Saidapet were beyond beyo nd the city limit in those days, and areas like Anna Nagar, K.K. Nagar, Besant Nagar, Ashok Nagar and such did not exist. Madras was then a small city with typical small town attitudes in manners and morals! The radio broadcasting was the contribution co ntribution of C. V. Krishnaswami Chetty who was the top electrical engineer of the Corporation. He was related to Sir Mutha by his marriage mar riage to Lady Andal, a member of CVK’s family. In 1937 the Government of India launched All India Radio and the Madras station then situated on Marshalls Road, Egmore, was inaugurated by Rajaji who was the then Premier of the Madras Presidency. Sir Mutha and Lady Andal took the young girls under their care at the Madras Seva Sadan to the beach almost every other evening, watching them play and amusing themselves on the golden glistening gli stening

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sands of the beach. On those evenings Sir Mutha managed to distance himself from his beloved wife for a very particular reason. He would buy many baskets of expens expensive ive apples and distrib distribute ute them genero generously usly to poor people, boys and girls who invariably came to the beach, looking for kind acts of generosity from the citizens of Madras. He gave without hesitation and watched their expressions when they held the expensive apples biting into the rich fruit which they could never buy themselves. Sir Mutha was very meticulous that he gave those seeking alms from him new one rupee notes. He would personally fold each of the notes into four and give one such note to the alms seeker. Indeed he knew all the physically challenged people in the beach and would enquire if any one of them the m went missing on a particular parti cular day, day, about the person. He would also spontaneous spontaneously ly offer help to such alms seekers. Sir Mutha always loved to dress to the hilt and some more, in a suit and had excellent taste in clothes. Being a judge of the High Court he rarely went out without his customary suit. Later in life he used to wear ‘sherwanis’ and still later only white cotton ‘jibbas’ and pyjamas. When he went to the beach he used to wear a couple of jibbas so that he could give away the extra one worn to the needy and the poor. This he did because wives as a rule do not take kindly to husband’s disappearing clothes.

There was a young man who had lost both his arms in an accident and Sir Mutha and Lady Andal took care of him and provided for his rehabilitation. Aware that he had an aged and not so well mother in Madurai, Sir Mutha sent a decent sum of money every month to the lady in the name of the son so that she would not know the unfortunate physical state of her son. Such instances are many in the life of the devoted couple. In those days there was hardly any schemes for the uplift of the poor and depressed, and the two played their role in great measure giving from their own private resources, though sometimes they sought


help from their friends who had enough and the heart to spare. Once some valuables like wristwatch and silver utensils were missing from his room in his bungalow, bungalow, and soon after, two inspectors of police brought the carpenter who used to work for him as the thief who had stolen them. The two inspectors stood in respect of his being a judge, and he asked them to be seated, which they did with much hesitation. While the suspect was still standing between the two inspectors he asked him to be seated, which obviously the inspectors did not like. He then stunned them by saying if the carpenter was not seated he would also stand. The carpenter broke down, deeply touched by the kindness of his his boss and confessed his his crime. Sir Mutha said said he would have helped him if only he knew of his monetary problems instead of resorting to thieving. That was not all. He educated all the five daughters of the carpenter at the Sadan as boarders. This event in his life recalls the famous episode of the Bishop and the Candlesticks in the immortal “Les Miserables” by French literary maestro maest ro Victor Hugo. An interesting case of life imitating art.

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UNVEILING OF HIS PORTRAIT

A por portrai traitt of Sir Muth Muthaa Venka Venkatasu tasubba bba Rao was unve unveile iledd on December 14,1938 at the Madras High Court, by Sir Lionel Leach who was then the Chief Justice, in the presence of a large and distinguished gathering of judges, advocates and others. The portrait, a full length canvas, seven feet by five feet, painted by C. Nageswara Rao, Rao, a well well known artist of Bombay Bombay,, depicting Sir Mutha in a sitting posture was presented by the Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) in appreciation of their respect, regard, love and affection for Sir Mutha. Sriman S. Srinivasa Iyengar, one of the greatest lawyers of the country who was then the President of the MHAA presided over the function. In his address he said, “Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao realised more than anybody else in the value of discipline. An independent, fearless, well-trained and well equipped competent Bar was an indispensable requisite for the administration of justice… Sir Venkatasubba Rao was called to the Bench at a comparatively early age and perhaps he had the mathematical satisfaction that he had the longest career on the Bench. He was for seventeen years a judge of this court. He was not only a great judge but also an independent and fearless judge and he brought to bear on his task a formidable and vigorous brain, infinite patience and love of hard work. It might be said that Sir M. Venkatasubb Venkatasubbaa Rao paid more attention attent ion even to small cases than was required. Time in his court sometimes stood stoo d still (loud laughter) but that did not matter much. He possessed a dignified behavior and unfailing unfailing courtesy to all. Throughout Throughout his career on the the Bench he gave universal satisfaction to all.”


The portrait of Sir Venkatasubba Rao, painted by C. Nageshwara Rao from Bombay.

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Speaking on the occasion Sir Lionel Leach said, “It is fitting that these walls should bear the portraits of distinguished judges of this court and consequently it is fitting that there should be hung the portrait port rait of Sir Mutha who was a judge of great distinction… I have often felt that the age fixed for the retirement of judges in this country is too low and in the case of Sir Mutha the rule was particularly inappropriate. Few judges in this country have however served so long on the Bench as he did…from the beginning to the end he had the full confidence of the litigant who came before him and full confidence of the Bar. I owe Sir Mutha a personal debt of gratitude for the assistant which he gave me in picking up the threads of the administrative work here and I shared the regret of you all when on July 18 of this year he ceased to be a member of this court… I am sure that this portrait, which I am about to unveil, will be a source of inspiration to those who now and those who in future will walk in these corridors”.

After living and leading a full and exemplary life of remarkable achievement in his chosen profession, the law and also service to the weak, poor and downtrodden, Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao passed away during the night of December 30, 1960. His body was taken to the cremation ground in Nungambakkam by the students of the Madras Seva Sadan who had come to pay their homage to their benefactor at his residence Vraja Vra ja on Thiruma Thirumalai lai Pillai Pi llai Road, Ro ad, T. Nagar. A large number of women connected with various social welfare and educational institutions in the City called at his residence to pay their respects to the dear departed soul and to condole the inconsolable Lady Andal. They also joined in the Ram Naam bhajan. The then Governor of Madras Vishnuram Medhi, Rajaji, P. V. Rajamannar the Chief Justice and other judges of the Madras High Court, the Chief Minister K. Kamaraj and Finance Minister C. Subramaniam were among the dignitaries who called at their residence res idence to pay their respects. A reference to the death of Sir Mutha was made before R. Sadasivam, Chief Presidency Magistrate (later a judge


of the High Court) who sat along with the Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Magistrates of the Egmore court. T. S. Venkataraman, well known lawyer of Egmore Bar made the reference and later the court was adjourned as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

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SIR MUTHA THE TRAVELLER

Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao and Lady Andal Rao were avid travellers,eager to see the world and study how the other half of the world lived. As socially conscious persons they were equally eager and anxious to study the various problems of people of classes and kinds in the places they toured in India and abroad. As a member of the Delimitation Committee, Sir Mutha and Lady Andal had the unique opportunity of travelling to what was then considered faraway places like Simla, Delhi, Delhi , Nagpur and others. As a member of the Committee he interacted with as many as two hundred people peo ple givi giving ng evid evidenc encee bef before ore the Com Committ mittee ee who belo belonged nged to var various ious background backg rounds, s, commu communities nities,, castes and creed creed,, which gave him a closer view of those persons and their problems. He also interacted with members of the Gurkha community and many women who gave evidence before him. For his honeymoon he and his wife toured Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and visited many places including the famous holiday resort Nuwara Eliya (known as ‘Little England’) and of course places like Jaffna and Colombo. He also visited Europe and the Far East and toured countries like China and Japan when not many Indians ventured to visit such countries in those times. He developed lasting friendships with people, especially in China, which had common links with India through Buddhism, along with Japan. He particularly made a study of the status of women in China during a period when women hardly had any rights and were virtually treated as slaves. Interestingly the passport issued to him bears the number 300 which


reveals that not many people applied for passports to travel abroad in those days! Travel always broadens one’s one’s mind and sense of perception, making the person alive to the plusses and minuses of those countries to which one travels. Much about the country, its culture and civilization are learnt by mental osmosis and the Venkatasubba Raos benefitted immensely by such travels. That was the period when air travel was not yet in vogue and the couple sailed along the silvery moon on the high seas, enjoying the luxury and soothing comforts of voyage through waters…

Around 1950, Sir Mutha and Lady Andal were introduced to Sri Rama Devi, a saint who hailed from Mangalore. They came under her influence and impact, and her teachings about life and living appealed to them in a very great manner. The couple soon became her ardent devotees. Rama Devi attracted a number of disciples and devotees in Madras City and Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao constructed a ‘bhajan’ hall on the grounds of his bungalow bung alow ‘Vraja’ on Thirumalai Pillai P illai Road, T. Nagar. On many occasions Rama Devi and a host of her disciples stayed with them giving talks, performing poojas, meeting the students of Seva Sadan and advising them about life and living. She gave the inmates of the Sadan valuable advice to prepare them for the future with confidence, hope and joy. In one of her messages she said, “Obedience is a supreme virtue that you must practise. Your teachers and parents in facing life have had many problem pro blemss to solv solvee and thus have gain gained ed muc muchh exp experie erience. nce. It is need needless less for you to go through the same hardship when you can profit by their experience. Learn to be modest and humble… while reading, do not let your attention be diverted from studies. There will come a time when you will be called upon to play an important part in the affairs of men. Wait patiently till then and in the mean time acquire as much

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Bajana Hall at “Vraja” — the founder’s last home.

The devotees inside the hall singing bajans.


Sathguru Sri Rama Devi with the Rao family.

Lady Andal, the Madras Seva Sadan girls and the bajana mandali – “Margali orukolam”.

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knowledge as you can… Habit they say is second nature and now is the time to learn good habits- cleanliness, tidiness, punctuality and above all never to break a promise once made, for that is the surest way of making people trust you… To young girls now at school my advice is this you will have many future household duties to perform, do not neglect them. You are future mothers and to you will fall the duty of moulding the minds and lives of your children. There is a tendency now among young women to lead a life of pleasure, leaving the care of children to servants. This is a temptation you must withstand… self sacrifice and regard for others’ feeling is the foundation on which your life must rest…” This advice created much impact among the students and inmates and they derived many benefits in their later life. Sadly Rama Devi is not much known today and only those who have come under the influence of the Venkatasubba Raos and have been part and parcel of the Madras Seva Sadan remember her, her teachings, her guiding principles and all.

Venkatasubba Rao married Andalamma in 1922, which proved pr oved to be a milestone for together with her he was able to make his dreams come true in contributing in mighty measure to social welfare and reform in Hindu society s ociety.. Above all, both the adoring and loving couple created history by founding the Madras Seva Sadan in 1928, and on December 30, 1960, at the age of 82 he passed away after leading an exemplary, exempl ary, eventful, endearing and successful life at many levels. Undaunted by the inconsolable inc onsolable tragedy tr agedy,, Andalamma who was now Lady Andal Venkata Venkatasubba subba Rao after after her husband’s knigh knighthood thood,, carried the torch handed over to her with great glory, carrying out his wishes, ideas and ideals for the rest of her life. In 1922 Andalamma, the young widow, married Mr. Justice Venkatasubba Rao. It was a wedding which in those conservative times and chimes created history and laid the foundation for the


reformist weddings of young widows who were then treated as harbingers of bad luck. The widow was so cruelly treated by orthodox society, that it was considered bad luck to come across one while walking on the street on an important mission. The person would curse the widow mentally, returning to his house to drink a cup of water, wait for a few minutes and then start again on his mission. That was not all. The Presidency Girls’ High School where Lady Andal was a student, treated widows no better. A widow coming from an orthodox wealthy family was admitted into the school, as the socially reformist father and visionary, a successful medical practitioner in Madras City, City, did not want his daughter to wear traditional widow weeds, shave her head and mope at home. As his relations objected to his daughter being admitted for her education, he shifted his residence to another part of the city where he hired a bungalow and engaged a hand drawn rickshaw to take her to and bring her back from school. It is a matter of shame that many of her classmates jeered at her for coming to school school and many thought that the the young widow would bring them bad luck. The unkindest cut of them all came from the teachers. The cruel teachers made her sit outside the classroom treating her like an outcaste, and she had to play extra attention to be able to hear the teacher teaching lessons. While other students were asked questions on subjects, this girl who was a topper, was not asked even a single question, being a widow. widow. It is a mark of joy and consolation that she made a mark in life later, carving a niche for herself and earning a reputation as one of the finest lady doctors of Madras City, with her own nursing home where she brought happiness, solace, and comfort to women young and old, and their parents for many years treating less fortunate patients free. Sir Mutha and Lady Andal lived in a palatial house in the College Road area in Nungambakkam. Known as ‘Albany’, it had a vast compound and during those days there was hardly any traffic on that road. Today of course it is a different story...! ‘Albany’ was a manorial bungalow built in the colonial architectural style and was situated on College Road. From the name it is obvious that it was originally built by an Englishman who came to Madras

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during the earlier century, centu ry, either to work for the East India Company or after 1857 the British Indian rulers at Fort St. George. This bungalow with several rooms had a large tract of land surrounding it and was believed to have been around ten acres in area. Venkatasubba Rao and Lady Andal moved into this bungalow as tenants paying p aying a monthly rental of Rs. 2000, which was a big fortune during the early decades of the 20th century. When he began practice as an Original Side lawyer, Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao was believed beli eved to have had his office offi ce in the crowded George Town Town area on Strotten Strotten Muthaia Muthai a Mudali Street. S treet. From the name, Muthaia Mudali was either a ‘dubash’ or a high-placed officer of a company called Strotten. Even in those days George Town Town was a crowded neighbourhood neigh bourhood with narrow nar row streets, lanes and by-lanes, with ‘street houses’ on either side. Albany disappeared over the years and was believed to have existed around what is today Subba Rao Avenue, which is an offshoot of College Road. Later the devoted couple moved to Spurtank Road in Egmore, which was then an aristocratic neighbourhood to yet another spacious house called ‘Spurtank House’ with a compound of about 40 grounds (2400 sq feet make a ground.) In later years the house was renamed Muktha Gardens, and passed into the hands of noted hotelier of Madras City and its sometime Mayor, V. R. Ramanatha Iyer of the well known Ramakrishna Lunch Home at Georgetown. In recent decades Spurtank Road has been renamed as Mayor V. R. Ramanatha Iyer Road. As the Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Raos had no children child ren of their own, expectedly they were very fond of them. Many children from the Madras Seva Sadan hostel spent their holidays with them at Spurtank House. Lady Andal would sit and string all the flowers in the garden and personally adorn each one of them. The children were all without any family of their own, and some of them were lost during the evacuation of Burma. Lady Andal took care of eighty of them, settling each one of them before she passed away away.. Their home had several servants, and one of the members of the family recalled how on a particular holiday Lady Andal was tense


and agitated that she had only one hundred servants and that she was short staffed! That was the period when Sir Mutha was the Agent of Berar at Hyderabad. Sir Mutha always told his friends, family and others that even though he had been a successful lawyer and a high court judge for seventeen long years he was always a student, right through his life and still learning. As the Tamil saying goes, what one knows is only a fistful of sand, sa nd, and what one does not know is like lik e the ocean. He always believed in listening to the other person’s point of view,, which was instilled in him in lar ge measure during his significant view sojourn on the Bench of the Madras High Court. He was ever cool as a cucumber and never lost his temper. He also had enormous patience to explain to people around him especially the children, what could be done and what could not be done and why something could not be done. He also listened to children with great interest even though most often what they spoke about did not make much sense! Not man manyy are awa aware re tha thatt Lad Ladyy And Andal al was als alsoo inte interes rested ted in cla classic ssical al Carnatic music. That was the reason which she introduced music classes in her school to teach vocal, veena and such instruments to interest her students. She was one of the promoters of the famous Vani Mahal, a landmark in the T. T. Nagar area are a of the city ci ty.. The main spirit behind beh ind Vani Vani Mahal was the celebrated stage and screen star, music composer, musician and above all an overgenerous human being, Chittoor V. Nagaiah. During those days there was no music sabha in the T. Nagar area where Nagaiah lived, and thanks to his hi s efforts the Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha was born with him as the spearhead of promoting the sabha and building an auditorium for it. Other promoters pr omoters included the well known medical practitioner of T. Nagar Dr. V. Rama Iyengar, the sadly neglected pioneer of south Indian cinema, S. Soundararajan (Tamil Nadu Talkies), S. Ramaswamy Naidu a leading share and stock broker and later mayor of Madras, Dr. P. B. Annangarachariar a leading medical practitioner of T. Nagar and also a member of the Corporation of Madras, and last but not the least was Lady Andal. Vani Mahal was declared open on November 18, 1945, by Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer who was then the Dewan of Travancore State.

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Lady Andal Andal took a leading part in the inaugural celebration lending dignity and stature with her impressive presence and inherent charm. Affectionately known as ‘amma’ to the pupils and staff of her various institutions, instituti ons, she was somewhat shy by nature and never sought praise or publicity. publicity. Never satisfied with what she had achieved she always desired to move ahead taking advantage of every opportunity towards progress and development of her various institutions, and towards the fruition of the objectives of the Madras Seva Sadan. Indeed two words in her life gave her utmost pleasure. One was ‘Naina’, the pet name of Sir Venkatasubba Rao and the other, Seva Sadan. Even though she was involved in many social service organizations in Madras City, she believed in devoting most of her time to Seva Sadan. As soon as she dropped off her husband at the High Court premises she would rush back to the Madras Seva Sadan premises and work without break until her husband returned from court at 5 p.m. Both Sir Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao and a nd Lady Andal were deeply deepl y religious and organised religious functions at their home with great fervour. After the much-mourned passing away of Sir Venkatasubba Rao on December 30, 1960, Lady Andal lost much of her spirit and zest for life. Yet Yet she continued to devote herself herse lf to the institutions instituti ons she and her dear departed husband had built over the years with much hard work, sincerity and singleness of purpose. She was never sick and did not know even a single day of illness. On Sunday October 12, 1969, she was her usual cheerful self, playing with her 2-year-o 2-year-old ld great grand-n grand-nephew ephew Krish till 11 a.m. Her family members spoke to her at 1 p.m. and then 2 hours later by 3 p.m. Lady Andal, the founding mother of Madras Seva Sadan passed away into the yonder blue of no return. However her spirit still lives li ves in Shenstone Park, guiding the others who took over her mantle…. She departed from this world as she wished without causing any trouble to anyone. Even though almost 40 years have gone over the


horizon since her shocking demise, the void she left behind still continues and no one can ever fill it for those who loved her dearly…

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LADY AND ANDAL AL

The Chettys who are basically Telugu speaking were believed to be originally Jains who later began to worship the Hindu goddess Kanikaparameswari Kanikaparamesw ari and also Gomatha. Because of their devotion to Gomatha the community members came to be known as ‘komatis’. Most of them were involved in businesses of many a kind and to a good extent many of them are still involved to this day. The Telugu-speaking Komatis of Madras owned vast properties in the city and they founded several charitable institutions, institutions , establishing schools, especially for women and also free hostels for the economically economi cally backward back ward.. They also buil builtt what are calle calledd in India Indiann Engl English, ish, chou choultrie ltriess where is the anglicized version of the word chathram which means a free boarding and lodging house where members of a particular community could stay on their visits to sacred and other places. Such choultries run by the komatis still function in many parts of the old Madras Presidency and also the present states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The interesting history of the community awaits to be told t old in detail by a competent social historian. There have been some attempts at recording this history but an exhaustive work has not yet been done.

Andalamma hailed from a wealthy family of Telugu Telugu speaking Arya Ary a Vysyas known as Komatis. She was a descendent of the historic Thatikonda family. (Thatikonda Namberumal Chetty was one of the greatest builders bu ilders in the th e history of India In dia and more so Madras Madr as City. City. As building contract contractor or working under British architec architects ts and enginee engineers rs he built many edifices, which are today landmarks in the city like the


Andalamma in costume.

Womens’ Empowerment! Andalamma (4th from left) with her Komati Relations.

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Vedavalli Thayaramma (Andalamma’s mother) with N.V. Rao, her grandson.

Andalamma with her nephew, N.V.Rao.


Venkatram Chetty, only brother of Andalamma and father of N.V.Rao.

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(Left to Right) Right) Mrs. N. Seetha Rao, N. Venkatram Rao, N.V. Rao on lap – N. Ven enka katna tnarrain Rao , Sir Muth Mutha, a, Prem Prema, a, Lad Lady y And Andal. al.

A n d a l a mm a .

Lady Anda l.


Photo taken at the annual meeting of the Madras Nurses’ Club, held on Wednesday, 24th February 1932, under the presidency of Mrs. Venkatasubba Rao.

Lady Andal with Lady Goshea.

The occasion of the annual meeting of the Women’s Indian Association. (Left to Right) Ms. Annie Besant, President of the Association, Mrs. Lady Andal and Mrs. Ammu Swaminathan – 15th April 1929.

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Madras Central C entral Station, Museum Theatre, Art Gallery Gall ery,, Lighthouse of the Madras High Court Buildings, State Bank of India building on North Beach Road, now Rajaji Salai, the General Post Office (GPO) and several others. All the public buildings were constructed with red bricks. bric ks. He also owned several bungalows and houses all over the city especially in areas like Egmore, Chetpet, Georgetown and Park Town. Town. In those days it used to be said that any building in Madras painted cream yellow belonged to him! This writer recalls a famous restaurant in Park Town area of the city, Mysore Cafe known for its Mysore ‘bonda sambar’, was situated in a large building with an excellent architectural façade in front on the top of which was the legend, Thatikonda House. During a period when few girls went to school, especially once they came of age which was quite early in those days, Andalamma as she was affectionately known, was given the benefit of a good education. Even at school, Andalamma while growing, learnt something of immense value which no school teaches but everyone needs. That was social awareness with human feeling and the ability to feel compassion for the poor, helpless and less fortunate and the ever burning desire to do somethin somethingg some day to change their plight. Little did she realise during those days that an opportunity would come her way with a bang. As a young girl she married into the well known and prominent Vemur family. Misfortune struck stru ck and she became a widow while still in her early teens. She then realized that with remarriage being impossible in those days she had to live a secluded life – the sad lot of widows in those days when such a person was thought to be a bad omen. It was then Dame Destiny took her life in her hands and her life changed when she met the person who would play a great role in her life and also the lives of others. He was Mutha Venkatasubba Rao.


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According to family friends, the two met at the residence of a prominent citizen of Madras, C.V C.V.. Krishnaswam Krishnaswamyy Chetty Chetty,, son-in-law of T. Namberumal Chetty who was then the top slot engineer of the Corporation of Madras, and was responsible for the electrification of the city, and also setting up the first radio broadcasting system in Madras, which was introduced by the Corporation. The meeting between the two kindred souls took strong roots and soon they fell in love, and in a brave gesture breaking tradition they married, and soon Andal became Mrs. Andal Venkatasubba Rao. Later when her beloved husband husband was knighted, knighted, she became Lady Andal Rao. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth she enjoyed all the comforts of the wealthy class and was born on November 22, 1894. She was educated at St. Thomas Convent in Mylapore and later at the Presidency Girl’s High School Madras. In those days girls were married before they reached the age of puberty and most most of them acquired acquired husband before they were were hardly hardly eleven. Child marriages were also common. Lady Andal was expectedly married when she was not yet in her teens, but regrettably she lost her husband and became a widow quite early. But she was made of sterner stuff and did not go under the unkind lashings of dame Destiny Dest iny.. She decided to fight her way through throug h life. Being aware of the plight of the young virgin widows in the country countr y who were poor, she made up her mind to devote herself to social service, especially to bring solace, comfort, and happiness to such widows, the abandoned and the destitute. The seeds which were thus sown grew into a mighty oak which came to be known as the Madras Seva Sadan. She was a person warm, kind, and generous and never treating her fellow human beings, however low or poor they might be, with arrogance. She used to live in the first floor of her bungalow where she had her office, and there was a rope and pulley arrangement with a basket tied up at the bottom end of the rope. If any messages had to be conveyed to her, the basket would be lowered and the message

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would be dropped in it by the servants. She would pull it up and then give instructions to the people below for the needful to be done. She made this arrangement of rope pulley and basket because she did not want her servants male and female to be climbing steps many times a day. This was one of her outstanding qualities, rarely seen in those days and even today. Such was her concern for her fellow human beings. However she was not a soft person. She was tough and could handle situations and persons whenever necessary with steel-hard determination and decision Lady Andal as a woman coming from a conservative background was religious as most Hindu women, especially of that era, and performed her rituals and poojas regularly regularly,, also drawing her students into her spiritual sphere. That was the period when many highly placed women of Madras, who ventured out into the social whirl of living did not much bother about the religious side of their lives. However Lady Andal was a happy exception and to a good extent influenced her husband into her line of thinking. Even though her energies physical, mental and others were devoted to the Madras Seva Sadan, she also took part in several other activities of the Madras Presidency. Despite demanding schedules and unlimited demands on her time she managed being on several bodies of south India rendering immense service for the causes of the institution. It will be interesting to take note of the various bodies and institutions with which she was intimately connected. A list is given below… 1. Pr Preesident: The Nurses Association. 2. Chairman : The Reception Committee of the Fourth Madras

Constituent Conference of Women on Educational Reform 3 . Vice President: The Nurse’s Club 1928

Old Girls’ Association of the Presidency High School


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The Society for the Protection of Cows and Animals 1928-1930 The Music Academy Academy 4. Honorary Secretary : The Madras Children’s Aid Society 5 . M e m b e r:

The District Secondary Education Board 1936. The Madras Nurses and Midwives Council. Lady Member of the Advisory Committee of the General Hospital Madras 1937-1940 Advisory Council of the Queen Mary’s College 1938-1941 Advisory Committee Government Hospital for Women and Children 1930-1937 General Committee –The Indian Red Cross Madras University Senate – 1939 Governing Body of the Indian Medical School and Hospital, Madras, 1935. Central Centr al Advisory Committee Comm ittee for Women’ Women’ss Education, 1930 Training Trai ning School for fo r Health Visitors Course. Co urse. Lady sub-committee of MSPC. The Provincial Council of Girl Guides Association- 1930. The Executive Committee Co mmittee of the Vigilance Vigi lance Association . Alderwoman Madras City Corporation Council 1938. Honorary visitor to the School of Arts and Crafts 1930-1933 Lady Assessor Royal Labour Commission, Madras. For her outstanding work in social welfare Lady Andal was awarded the King George V Medal and the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal. The President of India honoured her by conferring on her Padma Bhushan. Interestingly she was one of the few girls at the turn of the 20th century to be seen cycling in Madras City. She was also one of the first Indian women to drive a car in Madras.

Her willingness to work for any good cause that promised the amelioration of suffering and the stress she laid on practical work elevated her to adorn a small group of south Indian women, who, by working incessantly have brought about vital social changes in this part of the country.

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THE MADRAS SEVA SADAN SAGA Lady Andal’s Medals:

Ki ng G eo r ge V M e da l .

Ka is e r -i- Hi nd Me d a l.

Padma Bhushan.

Indeed she was truly one of the great and illustrious daughters of Mother India. After devoting her lifetime to the service of suffering womanhood womanho od she passed away in 1969.


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THE VENKATASUBBA RAOS - LIFE IS FOR LIVING

Even though Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao and Lady Andal Rao dedicated their lives for the uplift of the downtrodden and oppressed women and girl children, which led to their creating the Madras Seva Sadan, a brilliant beacon beaco n still shining brightly. bri ghtly. They did not neglect to to lead a full life. Life is not all work and no play. However the Venkatasubba Raos lived an active social life as part of the upper class elite of Madras City of their times and chimes. During their long innings on this planet together they lived in many places plac es in the city like ‘Alb ‘Albany’ any’ on Coll College ege Road Road,, ‘V ‘Vraja’ raja’ on Thir Thirumal umalai ai Pillai Road in T. Nagar, and ‘Pevency’ in Nungambakkam (the internationally renowned Shankar Nethralaya stands today), and the sprawling ‘Spurtank House’ on Spurtank Road, Egmore. This wide road with buildings only on one side of it with the Cooum river skirting the other side in the decades gone by, by, had the ambience of a leisurely life and many old-timers have commented that it resembled a city in the United Kingdom. Spurtank House stretched over 40 grounds or nearly 2 acres. It was the venue of many social evenings, parties and functions organised by the Venkatasubba Raos. Invariably at such get togethers the Governor of Madras who during the British Indian era kept himself away from mixing with the locals, was a guest with his Lady bestowing an aristocratic air on the social evenings hosted by the Venkatasubba Raos. The guests and invitees were all leading citizens of Madras City and the Presidency with many of them being Britishers. The conversation and cocktail chat were always on a high level of intellectual ambience, with of course much humour, wit and wisdom sprinkled liberally during the th e evenings.


That was an age of leisure-pleasure while life rolled along placidly with many comfortably placed in their life with not a care to cause creases on their faces. However for the Venkatasubba Raos it was not all partying, and more for their minds were always filled to the brim with thoughts of their avowed dreams and ambitions built around the Madras Seva Sadan. Venkatasubba Rao as a successful lawyer and later a judge was a pragmatic and down to earth person. Many of his friends thought that he was a rationalist to some degree at least and in his early years religion did not have much impact on him except as what an average Hindu would feel. However advancing years and a setback in health changed his views and as the saying goes, he took to religion, the main influence for such conversion was of course his beloved wife Lady Andal. He was drawn to the philosophy of the Thiruvannamalai saint Ramana Maharishi whom the famous English writer Somerset Maugham described in his brilliant article on the saint giving it the caption ‘The Man on the Hill’. Maugham toured around the world looking for materials for his plays, novels and writings, and collected much of it from his own life. He visited India when he met Ramana Maharishi and a nd also Sir C. C . P. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, an intimate in timate friend fri end of Mutha. (Maugham’s south Indian travel resulted in his best selling novel, ‘The Razor’s Edge’, which was then made into a successful movie.) The Venkatasubba Raos set an example in the social history of Madras City by their sacrifice and unlimited devotion to their chosen cause of serving the needs of the poor and the downtrodden sections of society, society, guiding them and showing them the pathway pathw ay to education to a hopeful, better and brighter future. They have left indelible footprints on the sands sands of Time… Time …


At the garden party in the Venkatasubba Rao’s home – “Sp “Spur ur Tank Hou House”. se”.

The friends with Lady Andal after their retirement

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THE SAGA BEGINS

Madras Seva Sadan, which created history in the world of social welfare, was founded in 1928, thanks to the single-handed efforts of the couple Mutha Venkatasubba Rao and his beloved wife Andalamma Venkatasubba Rao in 1928. 192 8. EARLY ORIGINS: The Women’s Home of Service was started in August 1924 by the Women’s Women’s Indian India n association associati on for the purpose pu rpose of giving adult Indian women in distress and unhappy conditions of widowhood, poverty, desertion and such, a course of training in handwork which would enable them to become self supporting. Classes were conducted in spinning and weaving rattan-work, embroidery, pillow lace, plain sewing sewing and jigna-work, which which were taught by com compet petent ent ins instru tructo ctors. rs. Emp Employ loymen mentt at pie piecew cework ork rat rates es was provided for those who were proficien proficientt in their handwork handwork.. Day pupils could chose special subjects and resident scholarship students had to take a course in all subjects with the vernacular and English and also music. The Home was then situated at ‘Udayavanam’, Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Madras. (Like most of the vintage buildings of the city this historic home seems to have disappeared with escalating time and tide.) It owed its success to the indefatigable energy, far sighted vision and relentless dynamism of Mrs. Margaret Cousins who was assisted in large measure by such devoted colleagues as Dr.. Muthulakshmi Reddi, Mrs. Jinardasa and its honorary secretary Dr Mrs. Andal Venkatasubba Rao. Mrs. Cousins had to leave India in 1928 and a meeting was held at Andal Venkatasubba Rao’s residence. It was decided at the meeting that Mr. Deodhar representing the Poona Seva Sadan society to take


Lady Andal with Margaret Cousins.

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Hand embroidery.

Soft Toys.

Weaving.


Group taken on the occasion of the annual meeting of The Madras Seva Sadan, Thursday 9th August 1935 when H.E. Lord Erskine presided.

His Excellency Sir K.V. Reddi preformed the opening ceremony of the New School Building of the Madras Seva Sadan on 29th August 1936. The photo shows H.E. the Governor with Lady Venkatasubba Rao, the Hon. Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao and others.

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over the Women’s Home of Service paying Rs. 750 for its goodwill. As the Poona-based Deodhar was disinclined to incur any financial obligation Mr. Justice Venkatasu Venkatasubba bba Rao offered offe red a princely prince ly donation donatio n of Rs. 10,000 (a mega fortune in the 1920s) out of which the Rs. 750 was paid. The new institution acquired a name, the Madras Seva Sadan. A shining new star arrived on the horizon of social service at Madras. Even after her retirement and departure for her homeland, Mrs. Cousins evinced keen interest in the activities acti vities of the Sadan. Activiti Activities es of the Sadan began to increase many fold, soon it was found necessary to rent a more spacious premises. pr emises. Accordingly Accordi ngly,, the Sadan shifted was shifted to No. 2 North Mada Street, Mylapore, Madras, and soon it became an independent body body.. At first it was a struggling home with a precarious existence in the rented building offering shelter to a handful of destitute girls. It then grew into a full-fledged institution, imparting literary, cultural and vocational training with untiring care and unfailing guidance of the founders. The tiny acorn grew into the mighty oak and is still st ill growing as the seasons roll over the horizon… Caste, creed, social standing and such discriminatory features had and have no place in Seva Sadan. History was created during the early 1930s when the first poor young girl belonging to what was then called ‘untouchables’ and (whom Gandhiji called Harijans,) was admitted in the home. In keeping with the social prejudices, casteism, and such negative features of Indian society during those years, other girls in the campus refused to sit with the Harijan girl and eat with her. Unfazed, Lady Andal took her home where she fed, clothed and took care of her. After a few days she called the other girls to lunch where they found the girl they had ostracized earlier was seated at the same table with Venkatasubba Rao and Lady Andal. Prejudices vanished like the mist in the morning Sun. The girl took her rightful and deserved place in the campus hostel. The founders of Madras Seva Sadan never preached or forced their views on others, but by example and personal conduct they showed many worlds the true path in life and the the future. future.


Distinguished visitors to the Sadan with a young Mrs. Clubwala Jadhav and Mr. N.V. Rao. (Four Presidents of the Sadan in the Picture!)

L ady Ma rjorie Ers kine, P atron ess o f T h e M a d r a s S e va S a d a n .

G r i ze l H o p e , f r iend o f the In stitutio n.

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In 1929 the famed educationist and thinker Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddi renowned as Sir C. R. Reddi, then the Vice Chancellor of the Andhra University Univer sity at Waltair Waltair wrote wrot e in the visitors’ visitors ’ book, “Hinduism “Hindui sm is evolving out of its caste system and the Seva Sadan flashes from its own though yet small mirror, mirr or, the new light of human fraternity frat ernity.. May the Sadan flourish into a joy of our national life.” Mrs. Rangamma a student of the first batch of the Sadan wrote, “we the inmates of the institution may compare ourselves to ships that pass each other. other. But our beloved “amma” was a harbour to receive and station the ships and let them go on, filled with sufficient fuel and other amenities for a bon voyage”. As noted writer, multi-hued scholar, jurist and former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, M. Ananthanarayanan remarked, “When Sir and Lady Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao began the pioneer institution in stitution Madras Seva Sadan, the path was hard and thorny. Social service was no shortcut to fame, success or enrichment. The rights of women was still in jeopardy. jeopardy . Actual social service serv ice was to a large extent, toil, toil , tears and sweat swea t to partly borrow from Winston Winston Churchill. Chur chill. The idealism of the founders cannot be forgotten. This institution is a living monument.” Right from the beginning the Home introduced both educational and vocational courses like lace making, enamelin, lacquer work, rattan work weaving, brush br ush making and others. Veena, Veena, violin and local music was offered as Optional Subjects in the SSLC class (Secondary (Seconda ry School Living Certificate). During 1930s on the first Friday of every month, Seva Sadan girls performed bhajans broadcast over the All India Radio, Madras. At the Sadan’s Sadan’s request, the government hospital at Royapettah opened training courses for pupil nurses from the Sadan and many girls took advantage of this facility. In 1935 the Sadan had its own campus preliminary training to qualify girls are teachers, midwives and nurses to care for the sick. In 1942 when the Second World War War 1939-1945 was on, the Sadan offered solace and a home for 80 young girls who suffered shock,


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physi cal and ment physical mental al handi handicaps caps when they arri arrived ved in Madra Madrass as evacuees from Burmah when it was invaded by Japan. That was the period many Indians in Burmah had to leave the country and come walking through jungles, undergoing other torturous struggles to reach India. Many families walking seemingly endlessly threw away some of their household articles like the radio, typewriter and such. Some of the refugees also lost their power of speech due to the shock, and it took a long time of care and nursing for them to talk again. All of those girls were well settled in life thanks to the care of the Sadan and many of them got married with the marriages being conducted by the Sadan. There were many women prisoners accused of infanticide, lodged in prisons like Vellore, which was famous for its jail. Sir Mutha brought many of them out on parole, using his influence and contacts as judge, to Madras Seva Sadan where he and his wife worked for the rehabilitationn of these unfortunates. They were properly looked after, rehabilitatio fed and clothed. That was not all. He made arrangements at the Sadan to teach them vocations like basket making etc., so that they could stand on their own feet when their prison terms were over, and live as respectable persons fitting into the matrix of society. When they left for their homes, they were given a sewing machine or a cow to help them earn a living. Some of them were even helped to remarry and start life anew and afresh. The Sadan was the first Indian girls school to establish the Secretarial course from fourth to sixth form teaching subjects like typewriting, shorthand, book keeping, commerce, drafting, precis writing and commercial arithmetic. Indeed the Sadan was the first ever to have the National Cadet Corps for girls which was unheard of in those days. Ever a trendsetter the Madras Seva Sadan girls took part in the Youth Rally held at the Nehru Stadium, Park Town, to meet Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru on January 17, 1955. They represented China

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N.C.C . 1st batch 1955 – 56.

Old Girls’ Day at Woodlands – 11th March, 1956.


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in the pageant held during the rally. 40 pupils and 4 teachers worked as volunteers during during the Avadi Avadi Session of the Indian National Nationa l Congress.

Some of the most illustrious names associated with the Sadan as members in the General Organization Committee, Publicity Committee and Finance committee. Eg, in the Medical and Health Committee were illustrious illustri ous personalities personali ties in the medical world of Madras like lik e Dr. Dr. A Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar and Dr. U. Rama Rao. Dr. A. L. Mudaliar besides being a medical maestro was also a prominent educationist who served the University of Madras as its Vice Chancellor for many a year. His advice and the benefits of experience were also generously available to the Sadan. The first Annual meeting of the Madras Seva Sadan was held on October 1, 1929 at ‘Willingdon’, Commander-in-Chief Road, Egmore, Madras, (today it houses the Presidency Club). His Excellency Sir Norman Marjoriebanks, Marjoriebanks, the then Governor of Madras presided over over the meeting. During those days the annual general meetings were presided by Governors Governors of the Presidency. Presidency. Reports of the meeting to the minutest detail were widely reported in leading publications like The Hindu and others. During early 1930s, the Sadan had blue blooded female patrons then called patronesses like Lady Willingdon, Lady Beatrix Stanley, (wife of the Governor Lord Stanley, after whom a medical college and hospital are named and also the viaduct at Central Station) and Lady Marjorie Erskine.

The Sadan was registered as a legal body in 1940 under the Act XXI of 1860. The Governing Body consisted of the t he Founder President, Vice President, Founder Honorary General Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, and two Joint Honorary Secretaries. It also had seven Governing Board members.

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Madras Governor Sir George Stanley and Lady Beatrix Stanley, with the founders of The Madras Seva Sadan – 1930.

Cochin Maharaja’s visit to the Sadan – Circa 1935.


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A flashback… At first Madras Seva Sadan functioned at a rented premises at No. 2, North Mada Street, Mylapore, Madras, and shifted to Shenstone Park when it was acquired in 1930. Here it is interesting to note an appeal which appeared in the Asylum Press and Almanac and Directory 1930. An appeal dated April 22, 1928 mentions about the Women’s Home of Service which was till then managed by the Women’s Indian Association, Adayar, and was taken over by the Poona Seva Sadan Society and a branch was created at Madras. The Press note appeals for persons to donate liberally for establishing the society not only in Bombay and Madras but also in other towns. Bombay Seva Sadan Society during that period had branches at Nagpurr and Gwalio Nagpu Gwalior. r. Mutha Venkata enkatasubba subba Rao a judge of the Madra Madrass High Court immediately announced a donation of Rs. 10,000 placed at the disposal of the Poona Seva Sadan Society for developing its aims and objectives in this part of the country, viz, Madras. It would appear from the above that this is how the Madras Seva Sadan was born and also derived its name…end of flashback…

In 1929 the Council of the Corporation of Madras sanctioned a sum of Rs 1800 as annual grant subject to the sanction of the Government of Madras. It is interesting to note from a letter sent by Sir A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar from Ripon Building announcing the grant that T. S. Ramaswamy Aiyer was the Corporation Councillor for the Mylapore division in which the Sadan was then situated. Ramaswamy Aiyer hailed from the legendary family of Sir T. Muthuswamy Iyer who created history as the first Indian to be appointed as a judge of the Madras High Court as early as the 19th century. Not many are aware that this legendary personality of Thiruvarur began his career on a princely salary of Re 1 working for a village office in Thanjavur District. It is also interesting to note that one of the legal icons of the Madras High Court, the incredibly successful Indian barrister, and the founder of Ethiraj Ethira j College Colleg e for Women in Madras, Mad ras, V. L. Ethiraj donated donat ed a sum

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of Rs. 500 in 1928. At that period Ethiraj had not even an inkling that in later years he would give away his entire earnings of many million rupees for the cause of women’s education! During 1930 when Seva Sadan began to function at Shenstone Park, the President was Sir M Venkatasubba Rao and the Vice Presidents were T. R. Venkatarama Shastri, one of the legal legends of Madras City, who also held high offices and was honoured by the British Indian government as Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE). (CIE) . The other Vice Presidents President s were the Raja of Kollengode, who was for sometime a member of the Delhi Central Legislative Assembly and also a CIE, Kumararaja M. A. Muthiah Chettiar who was also a member of the Legislative Assembly, Madras, and Dewan Bahadur A. M. Murugappa Chettiar, the founding father of the Murugappa group of companies. The Honorary General Secretary and Treasurer was Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao. Raja Sir Vasudeva Raja of Kollengode was one of the stalwarts who contributed in many ways standing behind firmly as a pillar of strength for Sir Mutha and Lady Andal Rao. Even though he was of royal lineage, he was deeply involved in the welfare of the downtrodden, depressed and oppressed and such social consciousness brought him in deep friendship with the Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Raos and he unhesitatingly helped the Sadan, Sada n, not merely financially in his own way but also holding out a helping hand in the activities of the Sadan. It was a cruel blow of destiny when he passed away during April 1940, and in his demise the Venkatasubba Raos lost a soulmate and the void created by his departure to the yonder blue could never be replaced. Ms. Vida Vida David was the first headmistress headmi stress of the High School and when she retired in 1938 she rejoined the Seva Sudan as the superintendent of the Tambaram branch. With Lady Andal as the honorary secretary, soon three schools and three residential institutions were established. As the honorary


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secretary she devoted all her time, energy, drive and dynamism to looking after the institution and the members paying individual attention. Some of the girls in the Seva Sadan were disabled, whose health was shattered for no fault of theirs and the couple took care of them, treating them and getting them cured of their ill-health and preparing them to play their rightful role in their lives and society. In a letter Lady Andal wrote “Because Seva Sadan is not only run according to institutional rules but individual care is taken, there is clamour for admission though we do our best to see that people do not dump their responsibilities responsibiliti es on us.” She proudly claimed in her letter of 1958 that the Sadan had over 1000 girls and women annually of whom it took care as far as possible. No wond wonder er such an inst institut itution ion not only crea created ted hist history ory but also beca became me an immortal body with the sole aim of uplifting girls and young women.

When Madras Seva Sadan was founded at first, it stated in its Memorandum of Association, its aims and objectives, as below: The objects of the Association are to work for the amelioration, advancement and uplift of Indian women in every sphere of life; in particu par ticular. lar. To enable them to take their legitimate place in the progressive progre ssive lift of the Nation without abandoning the distinctive genius and individuality of the Indian woman. To meet the urgent demand of young women of renaissant India, their knowledge, enlightenment and culture. To provide for general, academic, cultural, technical, industrial, vocational and other education without distinction of caste, creed or class serving the needs of the wealthy and the indigent alike.’ To establish and maintain homes and provide residential accommodation and boarding for girls and women receiving such

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education without observing distinction of case or creed provided however that the food served shall be vegetarian. To foster in home or in hostel an atmosphere of friendliness and fellowship, to develop character and to bring into life of everyone of the inmates a spirit of self reliance and a sense of fulfillment of ideas of love and service. To render necessary help and assistance to such as cannot afford to meet their expenses either in whole or part. To open and maintain maternity homes, hospitals, hospi tals, foundling homes and allied institutions. To bring into existence a body of qualified nurses, midwives and teachers. To establish and conduct branches of the Madras Seva Sadan as centres of training. Here it is interesting to take note that the aims and objectives so enshrined in the parent documents of the Madras Seva Sadan were so appropriately and brilliantly conceived and reduced to writing so that the expansion of activities of many a kind and nature in the future would not be hampered by rigid and strict legal interpretation of the original documents. This speaks very high of the drafting talents, skills skill s and capabilities of Sir Mutha and his soulmate Radhakrishnayya. To sight an example of the legal problems that a well meaning body would face in its future…a trust was created by a generous and popular personality personality of Madras Madras City to establish a chair chair for the study study of a particular school of thought and political philosophy. Two million rupees was provided as the core money for the trust and deposited in one of the nationalised banks in the city. Regrettably, the trust could not take any action to realise the avowed objectives because legal objections were raised that there was no such school of political philosophy as envisaged in the deed and what was mentioned was


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vague, imprecise and even nonexistent. Consequently the trust ceased to function as such and the large sum of money according acc ording to confirmed reports lies in the bank as a fixed deposit snowballing in its quantity but not of any use use to anybody anybody any more. A report in 1940 states, ‘from a struggling home in a precarious existence in a small rented building sheltering a handful of destitute girls and keeping them occupied to spend their time, to a full fledged institution with a High School, Industrial School and Orphanage with its own spacious premises imparting literary and vocational training and guidance not only to the girls of the poor but also to those of the well to do classes. Such is the remarkable progress achieved in a mere period of 12 years’ (1928-1940). When the Sadan rose over the horizon they were only ten inmates who were in the original Women’s Home of Service. In 1940 there were 280 girls in the High School and 137 in the industrial school. 81 of the girls were in the hostel and 78 in the orphanage the remaining being day scholars. It is interesting to note that in 1928 the assets of the Sadan were valued at a mere Rs. 150, but later by 1940 the buildings alone alon e exclusive of furniture and other equipment were valued at Rs. 200,000. Madras Seva Sadan is currently situated on Harrington Road, Chetpet, Madras, an aristocratic upper class neighbourhood of the city. This building with extensive land surrounding surround ing it was purchased in 1930 from the widow of Mr. Justice Cheruvoori Krishnan, Kri shnan, a judge of the Madras High Court. After the building was purchased a scheme was drawn for constructing detached cottages each capable of housing around 20 girls living together like a family. Each cottage was soon completed thanks to the generous donations by philanthropists of the Madras Presidency who had been watching the founding and growth of Sadan and also evinced considerable personal interest in its good work. When the philanthropist, philanthr opist, industrialist industr ialist and also a barrister, barri ster, Dr. Dr. Kv. Kv. Al. Rm. Alagappa Chettiar performed the marriage of his daughter

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Umayal in 1944, he donated Rs. 70,000, which helped the Sadan to build a block block named named Umayal Block used for the the hostel. hostel. In 1949 the Industrial Centre of the Chetpet branch was opened. In 1952 a branch of the Madras Seva S eva Sadan was started in Tambaram ambaram,, a suburban town of Madras with an industrial class for girls and also a Middle School for boys and girls. The school which was recognized by the local government government had about about 175 students. In 1953 August, August, a nursery section was opened for children between the ages of three and five. Another venture was the secretarial course in High School with a diversified stream of studies launched in the same year. Sir Mutha and Lady Andal did not rest with their oars oar s but continued to devote themselves to work for the uplift of underprivileged underprivilege d women and children. A branch of the industrial training centre was opened in the Thyagaraya Nagar area of the city in January 1955 by Durgabai Deshmukh one of the pioneers of the social welfare movement in India. During the welcome speech at the opening Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao said, “it has been the aim of the Madras Seva Sadan to help women who felt themselves a burden on society to become valuable members of it and to develop in them skills and courage as far as possible. Though Seva Sadan was at first a private voluntary welfare agency the stature, status and impact of the founding parents of the Sadan created much goodwill and support from the public and other institutions. Besides the munificent donation made by Dr. Alagappa Alagappa Chettiar, Sir. C. P. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, one of the great gr eat sons of India who was then the Dewan of Travancore, a maharaja ruled native state gave a gift of Rs. 10,000 on behalf of the Maharaja and the Travancore government with which furniture for the hostel was purchased. A successful lawyer and one of the legal legends of the Madras High Court, Sir CP made a personal donation of Rs. 2000. Another valuable donation came from Rao Saheb Ganapati Shastri,


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then the Dewan of Pudukottah native state. He donated land then valued at Rs. 40,000, which came from the properties of the deceased deceas ed daughter. Most of the land was sold and the proceeds were sent to Sadan for further work to be done. Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar of Chettinad donated Rs. 2000 while his son Raja Sir Muthiah Chettiar gave Rs. 10,000 to the High School build bu ilding ing fun fund. d. Help was received from public bodies like the Corporation of Madras. In appreciation of the good work done by the Sadan, the Corporation allowed the Sadan to buy land owned by the Corporation of 30 grounds at Rs. 13000. The Sadan also received donations from the Madras Race Club and other public minded institutions. The work done by the Sadan won appreciation of several persons of fame and name and also interested in the welfare of the have-nots of society. Sarojini Naidu, eminent poet, Indian National Congress leader and sometime Governor of a state said, “… irrespective of caste, creed or circumstance, womanhood finds what is seeks or needs in Seva Sadan, be it protection, opportunity, scope, encouragement, encouragement, hope, knowledge are the means towards earning a self respecting and independent livelihood”. Today Madras Seva Sadan consists con sists of many an institution inst itution devoted to the needs of the have not women and girls and also boys similarly placed. A unique feature of Madras Seva Sadan may be called as its ideal of “Creative Reconstruction”. The Sadan recognizes that the world is a world and not a charitable institution and steers clear of one of the gravest dangers that beset organisations for relieving reliev ing the helpless, viz, passive purposeless charity which has a degrading degradi ng and deadening effect on its recipients. Initially, the Madras Seva Sadan sought to reconstruct the broken lives of young women and not allow them to drift into oblivious inaction. Therefore it made provision for literary training as well as instruction in arts and handicrafts so that young

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women after their sojourn in the Sadan would go into the world equipped to live an independent, self supporting life. The Sadan still continues to follow the pattern laid down by the founding parents. As the years rolled over the horizon education and other facilities came to be offered offered to boys and an d men as well. A further furthe r step was taken to include the well to do as well as the indigent into the family fold of the Sadan. The bouquet consists of I. At Shenstone Park: 1 . The Madras Madras Seva Seva Sadan Sadan Higher Higher Secon Secondary dary Schoo Schooll for Girls Girls :

Towards their avowed objective the founders Sir and Lady Venkatasubba Rao started with great foresight a school at Shenstone Park, 7 Harrington Road, Chetpet, Chennai, for girls to impart education so that such qualifications would give them not only opportunities for better employment but also to invest them with dignity. The school started in 1930 and in course of time developed into a Higher Secondary School from standard I to Standard XII. All schools have houses but this school is unique in that they are called ‘grahas’- Seva, Shantha, Sheela and Sudha. 2 . The Madr Madras as Seva Seva Sadan Sadan Indus Industri trial al School School : Life does not unfold

to all in the same manner, and there are several helpless young women and girls who do not show an aptitude for higher studies. Such girls and women are coached upto the High School level after which they are admitted into the Industrial School recognised by the Tamil Tamil Nadu government. Here Here they study various aspects of Tailoring, Tailoring, Embroidery Embroide ry and Dressmaking. It is a two year course co urse leading to the Industrial School Leaving Certificate Course Examination. After they pass this examination they may opt to study one more year in the Industrial School and qualify themselves for the Teacher’s Training Course. Such girls find ready employment as Craft and Needlework teachers. Some of them


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are employed in the Sadan’s Vocational Centre and Higher Secondary School. 3. Vocati Vocational onal Centre Cent re : For Destitute women, deserted wives, helpless

widows with no education and are too old to start schooling, vocational guidance is imparted in the Vocational Centre. In the early days such guidance was imparted in handicrafts like lacework, weaving, rattan work, music (vocal and instrumental), embroidery and dress making. For many years the exquisite embroidered items and stuffed stuff ed toys used to t o be sold at the Victoria Victoria Technica Technicall Institute. Instit ute. With the passage of time certain items of handicraft in the Vocational Centre had become outmoded and consequently there was need to give up some and introduce new types and methods. Over the years girls have done leather shoe uppers, tailoring, readymade garments, filled capsules with medicines, stacked rubber bands and done zari embroidery and others. 4. Re Reha habi bili lita tati tion on Ce Cent ntrr e: In 1963 Lady Andal Rao established a

great humanitarian rehabilitation program, viz, rehabilitation of cured mental patients. Such patients are sent by the Government Institute of Mental Health, Madras, after they are cured but sadly have no one to keep or care for them. Such women are rehabilitated and employed in various sections of the Madras Seva Sadan at the Rehabilitation Centre. There are others who are brought here by their families as well. The Tamil Nadu Women’s Welfare Welfare Department D epartment remarked, “… so far this is the only voluntary welfare institution which has boldly come forward to maintain former mental patients when even their relatives refused to take them back”. 5 . Home for for Destitu Destitute te Wome Women n and and Childre Children n : Socially handicapped

persons are accommodated in cottages in the spacious grounds of the Sadan. The younger girls study in the Sadan’s Sadan’s Higher Secondary School or Industrial School. The older girls and women find employment in the Sadan’s other sections.

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6. Working Women’s Hostel : The Madras Seva Sadan is perhaps

the first institution of its kind to provide provi de hostel facilities for working women. The Sadan provided hostel accommodation for about 10 working women even during 1930. From these humble beginnings over the past eight decades this amenity has been so ably provided that today about 100 working women are accommodated in the Working Women’s Hostel. 7. Lady Andal Matriculation Higher Secondary School : To

commemorate the hallowed memory of the founder Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao School was started s tarted on June 11, 11, 1987. It coaches children for the Tamil Nadu Matriculation Matriculat ion Examination and Higher Hi gher Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination. The lower classes follow the renowned Montessori Method of imparting knowledge. It includes an Activity Centre for pre-schoolers. The school has excellent facilities for various outdoor and indoor cocurricular and extra-curricu extra-curricular lar activities. The Learning Centre : Lady Andal a women of vision had in her

mind man years ago to create a happy atmosphere for the child, to help build general cultural and social life skills, to focus on the all round development of the child, laying emphasis on individual excellence…To stress on physical development through games and athletics…keeping such vision in mind of Lady Andal, the Learning Centre was started in 1998. Today more than 200 children with learning disabilities are identified and helped. The objective is to help children with specific disabilities, create awareness among teachers, parents and society at large. In 2005 the Occupational Therapy Centre was established to help children to enhance their cognition and writing skills. Such children are identified and helped so that they could sail through their school career easily. The Learning Centre and the Occupational Therapy Centre help the Sadan to complete the vision of the school, to facilitate the child and achieve individual excellence.


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8. Shanthi Sadan: Established in 1989 Shanthi Sadan is an abode for

lady senior citizens who have crossed the sixtieth milestone of their lives. It is housed in the Thatikonda Nancharamma Building. Building . 9. ORCA: Built in 1999, the 6-lane, 25-metre swimming pool is a

splashing beehive of activity from 5 a.m. from the crack of dawn till lights are switched off at 7.30 in the evening. Swimmers trained at ORCA are doing excellently well at the highest levels. Interschool and even international competitions are regularly held at this very popular pool. 10. Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Auditorium Complex : Created

as a homage memorial to the founder Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao and for the preservation and propagation of Indian and all other forms of art and culture. The complex comp lex consists a 1100- seater seat er,, two level air-conditioned concert hall with 2400 sq. feet stage, an open air stage, a 4786 sq feet multipurpose hall for exhibitions, workshops, seminars and others, othe rs, an art school, an art gallery and a coffee shop. Equipped with some of the most advanced audio visual and lighting equipment this complex is a one stop shop which can cater to anything from a solo performance, street play to a philharmonic orchestra. Its plush curtains went up in February 2008, and not surprisingly has proved to be one of the most popular auditoria of the city. 11 .

Pravartanalaya : Established in July 2007, it is an institute

where free training is given for economically backward girls and women in Home Nursing and Geriatric care and also computers. 12. Priyatma: Established in May 2005, it is a creche for children

between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. 1 3 . Cafe : Multicuisine canteen catering the needs of the Sadan

campus and beyond. 14. City Shandy: An ongoing programme from May 2006, an avenue

for small entrepreneurs, NGOs, and self help groups to showcase and sell their products, held every month. It is assisted by Soroptimist International of Chennai.

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Tambaram baram West: II. At Gandhi Road, Tam 1 . Madr Madras as Seva Seva Sada Sadan n Higher Higher Secon Secondary dary Schoo Schooll : In 1953 the

citizens of Tambaram requested the founders to start a school. In response of this public appeal a coeducational school was started in a 13-acre campus, which in course of time has developed into an Aided Higher Secondary School with a self-financing English medium stream. 2 . Madr Madras as Seva Seva Sadan Sadan Nurser Nursery y and Prim Primary ary Schoo Schooll : This is an

English medium school sch ool with classes from fr om LKG to Class V. V. III. At Thyagaraya Nagar (T. Nagar): 1. Sir M. M. Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao Matriculation Matriculation and Higher Secondary School and Hostel : Situated at 57B Thirumalai Pillai

Road, T. Nagar, a Boys’ School was established in June 1971 to commemorate the beloved memory of the founder Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao. Named Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao Boys’ School, it had English medium coaching leading to the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education. It has since been converted into a Matriculation Higher Secondary School and in June 1997 it became co-educational. co-educational. 2 . The Madra Madrass Seva Sada Sadan n T. T. Nagar Nagar Ann Annexe exe: Situated at 12A,

New Giri Road, T. Nagar Nagar.. Plans are afoot at this annex annexee to estab establish lish tennis courts, hostel for working women and an old age home for couples and such others. Beyond Its Portals:

The Sadan lends a helping hand on a regular basis beyond its portals, be it fo forr fu furt rthe herr ed educ ucat atio ion, n, me medi dica care re or ot othe herr re requi quire reme ment ntss to individuals, other institutions institutions or the general public during times of natural or manmade calamities. In short the Sadan tries its best to live up to the ideals of the founding parents parent s of the Sadan and aims and objectives of the Time honoured institution. in stitution.


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Though the Madras Seva Sadan began primarily as a home for adult women, the founders realized that the best safeguard against adult helplessness was to offer such persons the equipment of training the young to face the world and future with confidence. Therefore the Industrial and High School were started together with an orphanage and a hostel was added where a number of young girls were accommodated accommodat ed at either free or nominal concession rates.

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THE MADRAS SEVA SADAN – A COSMOPOLITAN ALMA MATER

The Sadan and its various institutions believed in the basic principle that all human beings are born equal and should be treated equal through their lives, irrespective of their place of birth, their status, sex, caste, creed, community and other narrowing constrictions that one witnessed even now in Indian society. The cosmopolitan matrix of the Sadan can readily be realized by a mere glance at some of the details given below. Even as early as 1935 the resident pupils of the Sadan came from different parts of the country and abroad, and belonged to various castes, creeds, and communities. The resident pupils consisted of Brahmins, Vysyas, other NonBrahmin communities, Adi Dravidas, now called Dalits and Indian Christians, backward classes, Muslims, Jains, Parsis and Rajputs. Their mother tongues included Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Malayalam, Kannada Kannada and Konkani. The pupils included spinsters, widows and married women. Geography: The resident pupils came from several districts of

the Madras Presidency (during those days of the British rule, the Madras Presidency consisted of 26 districts and covered virtually the entire southern parts of India, excluding the ‘native’ states like Mysore, Travancore, Cochin, the Nizam’s Dominions and Pudukottah). The resident pupils came from districts like like South Arcot, Bellary, Bellary, Chingleput, Chittoor, Coimbato Coimbatore, re, Ganjam, Godavari, Guntur, Guntur , Krishna, Madras City, City, Malabarr, Nellore, Malaba Nellore, Ramnad, Salem, Salem, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Vizagap izagapatam atam


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Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao with Lady Venkatasubba Rao, Lady Mountbatten and Mrs. M. Lakshmi Ammal, when Lady Mountbatten visited The Madras Seva Sadan.

(after the reorganization of the state many of the above districts became parts par ts of Andh Andhra ra Prad Pradesh esh,, Karn Karnata ataka ka and Ker Kerala. ala. Som Somee of the angl anglicis icised ed names were also changed like eg, Vizagapatam is now Vishakapatnam). Resident pupils also hailed from outside the sprawling Madras Presidency. The pupils belonged to Bangalore, Nizam’s Dominions, Travancore and also nations abroad like Ceylon, Natal (Africa), Rangoon (Burma), Singapore (then part of Federated Malay States). The Sadan used to take part in exhibitions and fairs even in faraway places like Trivan rivandrum drum… … From the above it will be seen that the Madras Seva Sadan was a miniature world, taking into its bosom pupils from several parts of the world and imparting them lessons through universal sisterhood and brotherhood. brothe rhood.

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THE MADRAS SEVA SADAN SILVER JUBILEE-1928-1953

The Silver Jubilee of the Madras Seva Sadan was celebrated during 1953 in a befitting manner. Over 100 women prominent in the social life of the city and interest in welfare activities responded to the invitation of the Sadan to form a committee for the Jubilee. Srimathi Huthee Singh, sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru came from Bombay to preside over the celebration. The Old Girls’ Association had arranged a series of five benefit performances including plays by the noted TKS Brothers, dance performances by Lalitha, Padmini, Ragini (Travancore Sisters), the Tanjore Sisters and others. The occasion was brought out and messages and articles received from several celebrities were included in this souvenir released to commemorate the A souvenir befitting befitt ing occasion. The galaxy of such personalities included the then President of India Babu Rajendra Prasad, the then the n Vice Vice President Preside nt Dr. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrish Ra dhakrishnan, nan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sri Prakasa Governor of Madras, then Chief Minister of Madras Rajaji, Rajaji , P. P. V. V. Rajamannar Chief C hief Justice Justic e of Madras, C. D. Deshmukh Finance Minister, Durgabai Deshmukh member Planning Commission, K. Kamaraj, the famous Arcot twins Ramaswami Mudaliar and A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, Pandit Goving Vallabh Vallabh Pant, Pant , Sir Mirza Ismail, I smail, Sir Si r C. P. Ramaswamy Ayya yyarr, M. Bhakthavatchalam, renowned man of letters Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, noted icon of Bharathanatyam Rukmani Devi Arundale Rama Varma Rajpramuk of Travancore-Cochin, Raja and Rani of Kollengode, T. Lalitha Devi Dowager Maharani of


Vijayanagaram, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi and a host of central ministers, governors, members of parliament, vice chancellors of universities and several other illustrious men and women of India. Among the members of the Silver Jubilee Committee were Mrs. Clubwala Jadhav, the noted social worker, noted classical Carnatic musician M. L. Vasanthakumari, Kumararaja M. A. M. Muthiah Chettiar then Sheriff of Madras,A. Madras, A. M. M. Murugappa Chettiar leading industrialist, AV. Meyappan movie mogul, and C. N. Annadurai the Dravidian leader of the masses and classes, who had by then become a member of the Madras Legislature for the first time.

Silver Jubilee of the Sadan presided over by Smt. Krishna Huthee Singh (younger sister of Prime Minister Pandit Nehru) – 1953.

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30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OCTOBER 12, 1958

It was a Red Letter Day in the history of the Madras Seva Sadan when it celebrated the 30th Anniversary on October 12, 1958. For the 30th anniversary there was a largely attended public meeting when Dr.. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Dr Radhakri shnan, then Vice President Presiden t of India and good friend of the founders of the Sadan presided over the function. Mrs. Tara Cherian then the Mayor of Madras was the convenor of the celebration and the commemorative souvenir was released by Kasturi Srinivasan, the editor The Hindu. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan addressed the gathering on the historic occasion. In his address he said, “I have known the Venkatasubba Raos for over a generation. They both have given selfless service for this institution. They have given to it the substance of their lives. They are among the pioneers in this movement of emancipation of women and the rehabilitation of the orphaned and the destitute. The lack of it was perhaps the cause of our downfall or the effect of our downfall. Whatever it may be they started this work even in the days when we were politically subject, and this institution has grown from small beginnings to its present dimensions. I have no doubt it will go on increasing its activities because it fulfills a real need.” A joyful carnival carniv al was held at the Nehru Nehr u Stadium, Park Town, and well known production houses ho uses Metro Goldwyn Mayer and AVM AVM lent films for free screening. Well known artistes including the later day cult figure figur e and icon of Tamil Tamil Nadu M. G. G. Ramachandran, Ramachandra n, well known kn own playback playba ck singer Tiruchi Logana Loganathan, than, Shanth Shanthii Gopala Gopalakrishna krishnann and her troupe gave free entertainment. A record crowd of Madras citizens enjoyed the carnival.


Dr S. Radhakrishnan, Vice-President of India, and the founders at the 30th Anniversary of the Sadan – 1958.

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Rajaji sent a message to Sir Mutha on the occasion which reads, “May every childless c hildless Indian I ndian learn lea rn from you and a nd Lady Venkatasubba Venkatasubba Rao. No mother loves her child more than you and your good wife. May it live long and live young. And may you be protected against ever vicissitude as Markandeya was protected.” In her speech Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao remarked, “I take this opportunity only to thank all who have helped us- I know that an old student gave us Rs. 5 which was her three months’ savings”. Comittee Members: Smt. Clubwala Jadhav, M.L.C. Smt. C.T. Alwar Chetty Smt. Mona Hensman Smt. G. Parthasarathy Smt. Nibha Walawalker Smt. Anusuya Rajagopal Smt. M.L. Vasanthakumari Vasanthakumari Smt. K.S.G. Haja Shereef Smt. Rajammal Anantaraman Smt. V.K. Ayyappan Pill Pillai ai Smt. Lakshmi Ramanatha Iyer Smt. Nathan Smt. Meyyappa Chettiar Smt. Ida L. Chambers Smt. M. Lakshmi Ammal Smt. N. Seetha Rao Smt. Ammu Swaminadhan Dr. P.V. Cherian, M.L.C. Kumararajah M.A.M. Muthiah Chettiar, Sri. A.M.M. Murugappa Chettiar Sri. N.V. Rao Sri. Ramiah Sri. C.N. Annadorai, M.L.A. Sri. V. Chittoor Nagiah

Sheriff of Madras


Sri. Lalchand Dadha Sri. V. Kalidas Sri. K. Rajagopal Sri. S.S.T S.S .T.. Chari Sri. V.S. Rajaratnam Sri. V. Emberumanar Sri. A.V.M. Meyyappa Chettiar Sri. S. Viswanathan Kumari Padmini (Travancore Sisters) Kumari Vida David

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THE MADRAS SEVA SADAN SAGA Sathabishekam :

Sathabishekam of the Venkatasubba Raos on 5th August 1958.

Rajaji at Sathabishekam.

Yana Cherian at Sathabishekam.


M.G. Ramachandran at the opening of the Working Womens’ Hostel (Lady Andal’s last public appearance – 16th August 1969).

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GOLDEN JUBILEE

The Golden Jubilee of the Madras Seva Sadan and the Birth Centenary of its founding father Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao were celebrated during 1978 with pomp and circumstance. However, a tinge of sadness was felt by many that the founding parents, Sir Mutha and Lady Andal, and most of their friends and well wishers were no longer around to take part in the celebrations. The Sadan had a carnival in the school premises and an exhibition with participation from all the Sadan schools. A public meeting was held with the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, Prabhudas Patwari presiding presid ing over the largely attend attended ed functio functionn and laying the founda foundation tion stone for the Golden Jubilee Building. It was followed by an evening of variety entertainment. The Sadan brought out a souvenir containing messages from several dignatories. The Prime Minister did not write it himself but a message signed by his Private Secretary was received. Messages were received from the Governor Tamil Nadu, the Central Education Minister Minister,, M. Bhaktavatsal Bhaktavatsalam, am, Dr. P. P. V. V. Rajamannar Raj amannar,, S. Ambujammal, Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh and Mr. Justice M. Ananthanarayanan.


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LADY ANDAL CENTENARY

The Birth Centenary celebrations of the founding mother of the Sadan, Lady Andal were held over a week from November 14th to November 22nd 1994. 1994. To celebrate celebrate the eventful eventful occasion, occasion, the Sadan Sadan held exhibitions, inter-school culturals, inter-school matches between students as well as staff. A variety entertainment by the students of all the schools was also held. On November 22, 1994, Lady Andal’s Andal ’s birth anniversary anniv ersary,, nine great grand nephews and nieces (two sons and daughter of C. Prema Kumar, twin sons and two daughters of Dr. Rao, and two daughters of Venkatnarain, both brothers of Prema Kumar) – each laid one of the nine bricks for the foundation of the Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao Centenary Building. The love of the children has created the Centenary Building – a four-storied edifice with a quadrangle for assembly in the center – into a monument of their love and affection. affecti on. Lady Andal has become a school where children love to study.

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PLATINUM JUBILEE

The Platinum Jubilee of the Madras Seva Sadan was celebrated on September 6, 2003 when the students of all the schools came together to put up a cultural extravaganza. In keeping up with the modern mass media technology, a video presentation of the Sadan and its activities was done for the first time. A Carnatic Music recital on the piano by Rev. Sr. John Dorai Chetty from the Good Shephard Convent, Mysore, was a highlight of the Celebration. A grand finale was an enthralling performance by well known classical Carnatic musician, Maharajapuram Ramachandran, the son of the renowned Maharajapuram Santhanam and the grandson of Carnatic Music icon, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer. Mementos were presented on this happy occasion to the staff of the Sadan and all its branches.

80th YEA YEAR R

Madras Seva Sadan celebrates its 80th year in September 2008, a memorable, significant and signal achievement in the history of any institution, anywhere in the world and more so for a social welfare organization started by two individuals who crossed many hurdles and obstacles in their own inimitable manner helped by friends, well wishers and others to build this edifice.


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THEY ALSO HELPED…

B esides the founding parents of the Madras Seva Sadan, the Venkatasub Venkatasubba ba Raos, several other noted personalitie pers onalitiess contributed in good measure to the welfare, uplift and development of the Sadan ever since it was founded. Some offered monetary help and some the immense benefit of their advice, guidance and talents and skills of a varied kind, which helped the Sadan for its betterment. The galaxy of such personalities is large and include V. Radhakrishnayya… K. Sanjeeva Kamath… Mrs. Mary Clubwala, V. Thiruvengadathan Chetty, C. T. Alwar Chetty… M. A. Muthiah Chettiar of Chettinad… Dr. P. V. Rajamannar… T. R.Venkatarama Sastry… A.M.M. A.M.M. Murugappa Chettiar… the Raja of Kollengode…and many others.

Many generous donors contributed liberally for the building. Mention must be made of the following liberal minded and generous persons… His Highness the Maharaja of Cochin Rs. 2500… Kumararaja Muthiah Chettiar of Chettinad Rs. 10,000… Maharaja of Jeypore Rs. 6500… Maharaja of Parlakimedi Rs. 5000… Raja Dhanrajgiriji of Hyderabad Rs. 5000… Dewan Bahadur A. M. M. Murugappa Chettiar Rs. 2000… R. Kanakasabapathy Iyer Rs. 2000 (left as legacy under his will)…

In 1930 many socially conscious persons came forward to contribute without being asked for the building of cottages. Such great souls are Alathur Nathamuni Chetty Chett y, M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettiar, Chettiar,

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V. Perumal Chetty and Sons, Zamindar of Chunampet, and Trustees of Pachaiyappa’s Charities on behalf of the Estate of Olety Ranganayakkamma.

Help received from abroad: The Public Welf Welfare are Foundation Inc., Washington, Vir Virginia ginia was a regular donor for many a year. yea r.

“And he who gives a child a treat Makes joy bells ring in Heaven’s street And he who gives a child a home Builds palaces in kingdom come.” – John Masefield (famed British poet and former Poet Laureate of Britain)


BIBLIOGRAPHY: A Beautiful Life (A Madras Seva Sadan publication) 1.

Madr Ma dras as Se Seva va Sa Sada dann sou souve veni nirs rs an andd sch schoo ooll mag magaz azin ines es..

2.

Mad adra rass Sev Sevaa Sad Sadan an An Annnua uall Rep Repor orts ts

3.

Madr Ma dras as Se Seva va Sa Sada dann Sil Silve verr Jub Jubil ilee ee So Souv uven enir ir

4.

Madr Ma dras as Se Seva va Sa Sada dann 30t 30thh Yea Yearr Cel Celeb ebra rati tion on Re Repo port rtss

5.

Indi In dian an Law Rep epor orte terr (M (Mad adra rass Ser Serie ies) s)

6.

Madras Law Journal

7.

Madras La Law We Weekly

8.

Madras We Weekly No Notes

9.

Madras Cr Criminal Ca Cases

10.. A Ce 10 Cent ntur uryy Co Comp mple lete ted d (the Madras High Court Centenary 1862-1962 ) - V. C. Gopalratnam published by the Madras Law Journal 11. Th Thee Hin indu du,, Ma Madr dras as 12.. The Ma 12 Mail, Ma Madras 13. Jus Justic ticee (The (The officia officiall publica publicatio tionn of the Justi Justice ce Party Party ) 14. Photo Photogr grap aphs hs : Th Thee Archi Archival val Col Collec lectio tionn of N. Venkatnarain Venkatnarain Rao and C.Prema Kumar. Kumar.

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Sir M. VENKATASUBBA RAO DEAD Ex-Judge of Madras High Court from The Hindu, 31st December 1960) ( from

MADRAS, Dec. 31: The death of Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao, retired High Court Judge, occurred last night at his residence in Thyagarayanagar. He was 82, and was a great philanthropist and social reformer. Sir Venkatasubba Rao founded The Madras Seva Sadan, along with his wife, to help poor and destitute women. Born in July 18, 1878, Sir Si r Venkatasubb Venkatasubbaa Rao, was educated at the th e Madras Christian College. After practising for over 17 years at the Bar, he was appointed Judge of the High Court on November 17, 1921, which post he held with distinction till 1938. He also acted twice as Chief Justice and served, in 1935, as Member of the Delimitation Committee. He was Knighted in 1936 and was political Agent for Berar, of the Nizam of Hyderabad, till 1942. 1942 . He was closely connected with the Scout Movement and was Provincial Scout Commissioner Co mmissioner for a number of years. years . A great devotee of Sri Rama Devi, he built a bhajan hall in Thyagarayanagar. He is survived by his wife. Mr. Medhi, Governor of Madras, Mr. K. Kamaraj, Chief Minister Min ister of Tamilnadu, Mr. C. Subramaniam, Finance Minister, Mr. P.V.Rajamannar, Chief Justice, Mr. P.Venkataramana Rao Nayudu, Mr. A.M.M. Murugappa Chettiar, Mr. M.A. Muthiah Chettiar and Mr. Gajapathi Raju Raj u called at a t the residence res idence of Mr Mr.. Venkatasub Venkatasubba ba Rao to pay their respects.


The funeral this morning at Nungambakkam crematorium was largely attended. Mr. T.S. T.S.V Venkataraman, President, Egmore Bar Association, today made a reference before the Chief Presidency Magistrate, to the death of Sir M.Venkatasub M.Venkatasubba ba Rao, a great judge j udge and a social soci al worker. worker. Mr. R. Sadasivam, Chief Presidency Magistrate, Mr. S. Natarajan, Fifth Presidency Magistrate, Mr. B. Kuppuswami Nayudu, Seventh Presidency Magistrate, and Mr. D. Thinnayiram, Ninth Presidency Magistrate, sat in the First Court.

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