About Us
The HISTORY of Kozhikode Courts and of the
CALICUT BAR ASSOCIATION
It is said we learn from ‘History’ that we do not learn from History. But we sure unlearn many things on reading History. Let the dead past bury its dead, fret not of the future, live, live in the living present Calicut is celebrated in history not only as the Kingdom of the Zamorins but also as “the Port of truth”. No doubt therefore the institutions engaged in truth seeking also had a glorious development here. Indubitably the history of our Bar Association entwines with the History of courts about which mention is to be made first. COURTS AT CALICUT Calicut was the Headquarters of the then composite Malabar District taking in the present Districts of Kozhikode, Kannur, Malapuram and Palakkad. There was only one Collector for the entire province. But for the purpose of judicial administration the entire district was divided into two parts. North Malabar and south Malabar. As a first step, 7 local darogas, native judicature, were established on July 1St 1793 in Cannanore, Quilandy, Tanur, Tirurangadi, Ponnani, Chettuvayi and Palghat. Circuit Courts were established in four divisions of the presidency for speedy trial of the convicts of criminal cases. As per Regulation VII in 1802 a Zilla Court and Registrar’s Court were established in Calicut. In 1812 auxiliary Zilla court was established at Cochin. By Regulation IV 1816 the Munro system helped changing the attitude of the British towards customary realities of Malabar. By Regulation X of 1827 Mr. Munro wanted to revive the age old Panchayath system of the Indians but his untimely death struck at the roots of his desire. With the Act of 1843 establishment of Sessions Courts and other reforms in Judicial administration became the nucleus of the modern Civil and Criminal laws in 1875 the designation of Civil and Sessions Judge became the District and Sessions Judge of North and South Malabar.
The Principal SudderAmins became the Subordinate judges. Tellichery and Calicut became the Head Quarters of the District judges. Connected with the Civil Courts, the Registration department also became active, inaugurated in 1799. The establishment of law courts in India came like a necessity, an inevitable instrument of colonialism. Persian and local dialects were used in the early stages for court proceedings though for all practical purposes and reasons English replaced them in 1839. Terms like Vakalathnama, Nazar, Amin etc.; continue. There was only one Sub Court at Palakkad and another at Ottapalam. There was one Principal Sub judge and one Additional Sub Judge at Calicut. The Sub courts were. not vested with filing powers. As regards appeals, all appeals were to be filed in the District Courts. The District Judge used to transfer periodically civil appeals on his file to the four sub courts within his jurisdiction.
On an average, about 1500 civil appeals used to be filed in Calicut District court then. All murder cases and other case triable exclusively by a Session judge would be committed to the Sessions Court at Calicut. the work of the District and Sessions Judge in those days was thus fairly heavy. The District court was then presided over invariably by English ICS Judges. Some of them were brilliant while there were some who were poor, mediocre in capacity; but all of them maintained a big degree of judicial independence, impartiality, judicial detachment, equi-poise and judicial honesty. All of them functioned with dignity and decorum. There was pin drop silence at the Court sittings. ‘The Judge would ascend the platform from his chambers behind, on the first stroke of 11 o’clock, get up for lunch exactly at 2 pm; come back after lunch at 3 pm sharp and continue to sit there till the stroke of 5.” Senior lawyer of the then years Sri. K. Subramanyalyer, father of our Advocate late S Krishna lyer and grandfather of Adv. Lakshmi recalls.
OUR BAR & ITS REVERBERATING HISTORY
Calicut Bar started as a Law library and it was named after its first president Mr. Frank Wilkinson, the then District judges. Those days the District judge was the president of the Bar association too. On 6th March 1886 the Calicut Bar association was born. Mr. Mellish as Secretary, Sri SanakaraNarayanalyer as Sub secretary and Sri.VytheeMenon as Treasurer. It was in 1925 that K P Raman Menon sat on the President’s chair and led us. Thereafter every year we have elected one amongst us to preside over our association. Sri K P Raman Menon in 1925 to Sri M.G. Asokan in 2024, we have a hierarchy of presidents.
LAWYERS EVER LIVING
Calicut had several English judges of repute, like Messrs. M’cGilligen, Stodart, King, Happel. Adv. K Subramanyalyer, doyen of yester years had recalled his experience before the said Judges, especially Mr. Happel, who encouraged him as then a young lawyer pitted in arguing an Appeal case against his own senior and master Sri. K V Suryanarayanalyer, (the 1st Advocate General of Kerala). As for lawyers Mr. Subramanyalyer accounted for 65 brahminlawyers equal number of Nair lawyers, 2 Muslims, 3 Christians and about half a dozen from the Thiyya community. He has also in an article by him referred to the galaxy of lawyers of his times around 1.929-30’s. Advocates, Kalyanakrishnalyer, K P Raman Menon, T A Seshalyer, K Raman nair, K Madhavannair, A Ganapathilyer, AK Anantharamalyer, Mullasseri GopalaMenon, U Gopalamenon, P M Swaminathalyeretc; on the civil side and Manjeri Rama lyer as the leader on the criminal side with T V Sundaralyer, T C Karunakaran, VGopalakrishnalyer, K G Nair, K P Raman menon, Kongat Raman Menon and a bevy of others. Sri.C RavunniNedungadi,father and M MKunhiramamenon father in law of Barrister like Sri K P Kesavamenon, V SankaraMenon, father the legend K Kunhiramamenon, S Natarajalyer, N RadhakrishnaMenon, P R Krishna lyer, MPS Mannadiyar, U Unnimadhavan Nair, K A Dharma Raja Iyer, K P Achutha Menon were also prominent lawyers at Calicut Courts.
The legend of law of all times , who practiced under Sri. T V Sundaralyer, the founder Director of Mathrubhunmi, Justice Sri. V R Krishna lyer is all vociferous in speaking about Calicut. “When I was a boy at Koyilandy, I came to Calicut with my father V V Ramaiyer who was President of the Calicut thaluk Board. Calicut is a remarkable city of export of spices, fish and sea trade. Calicut Bar association is fearless institution administering justice: social, economic and political as declared in the preamble of the Indian Constitution”
Speaking about the fearlessness of the Calicut one cannot forget the incident occurred in September 1942. Resolution was passed, stating that the Bar is of the opinion that the British Prime Minister’s recent statement on India is a travesty of real facts, that its tone and tenor is insulting to the self-respect of the whole Indian people and that it has done the greatest disservice to India at this critical juncture and that this Association is further of the opinion that the only way to the Government to remove the present dead lock is to revise its policy and to form a provisional national Government”
For having used the premises to discuss subject contained in the aforesaid Resolution which in the opinion of the High Court was unconnected with the profession of law, the Bar association premises were ordered to be closed for a period of one month, viz.; the month of December 1942. In protest the lawyers then here protested against the anti-democratic act meeting under the giant rain tree in the court campus. A repeat performance was during the emergency period in 1977. The Bar protested against it and condemned the imprisonment of national lawyers. The lawyers formed the Lawyer’s Democratic Front and worked for protection of Human and Civil Rights during emergency.
In all socio-political movements lawyers at Calicut did play a pivotal role. To start with it„was the great Manjeri Rama lyer who founded this legacy of social engineering by lawyers. He was active in the Home rule movement. In 1937 the All-Malabar District Lawyers’ conference was held at Calicut and was inaugurated by Sri. C Rajagopalachari, (later the 1st Governor General of India, who incidentally was the class mate of Manjeri Rama lyer at Madras. Manjeri Ramaier’s legacy is carried on by his grandson Manjeri Sunder Raj and great grandson Manjeri Subin Sunder Raj who are our members.
We are proud to say that India’s first Defense Minster of Indian Sri V K Krishna Menon belonged to the Calicut Bar. Incidentally Messrs. Kongat Raman Menon, Kozhipurath Madhava Menon, were Ministers in the Madras Government with Sri. C Rajagopalachari as Chief Minister. Dr. V A Syed Mohammed, former Union Minister, Sri. K M Mani former Finance Minister, Kerala, M T Padma, P Sankaran, A Sujanapal, Mohammed Riyas Ministers of the Kerala Government were all practicing in this Bar. Ms. Satheedevi was Member of the Indian Parliament, Messrs P V Sanakara Narayanan, P K Sankarankutty were MLA’s in the Kerala Assembly. Our member Shahir Singh is now the Director of the leading Malayalam Daily “Mathrubhumi”. It’s General Manager Sri. Anand was also our member as then a lawyer at Kozhikode.
Manjeri Subramanyaiyer was the first Chairman of the Kozhikode Municipality. We had our member advocates, C J Robin, A Sankaran, U T Rajan, as worshipful Mayors of the Kozhikode Corporation. Adv. Noorbeena Rashid served as member of the Women’s Commission of which Ms. P Satheedevi was the Chairperson and Adv. Naseer Chaliyam was Member of the Child Rights Commission.
From bar to the bench those who rose were Messrs. P Govinda Menon, S K Khader, K P Radhakrishna Menon, T L Viswanathalyer, Chettor Sankaran Nair, R Basant, K Hema, and Harirani. To the lower judiciary there were several members appointed as Munsiff/Magistrates, District judges. I am not naming all of them for want of space and time.
We have the remarkable credit of one of our senior members designated by H. E. the President of India to the post of Governor. Sri. P S Sreedharan Pilla. Presently the Governor of Goa. Eminent widely known Public men at Calicut like P Kumaran Kutty, Manjeri Sunder Raj, et al are members of our Association.
We recall the memoirs of those who left us after instilling into us a sense of belonging forever, Messrs, K Kunjiram Menon, K P Achutha Menon, C Achutha Menon, M Ratna Singh, KP Kunhirama Poduval, K Bhaskarannalr, N Radhakrishnan, P M Mohammedali, Krishnalyers, M and S, P U Sivasankarannair, Ramankutty Nair, P K Ahmed, Raja Raja Varma, C K Gopalan Nambyar, T P Aravindaksha Menon, Joseph Jacob, P C RamachandraMenon, G K Nair, Karur,akara Pisharody, N Ahmed Koya, T K Gopinatah, K P Gopinath, KP Govindankutty, C N Imbichammu, A K Lohithakshan, P Ramankutty Menon, CEV Mamukoya, P Sacheendran, Palanina ha Panicker, V O Devassy, U. Sarat Kumar, Sankar V, AP Moosa,K Raju, P S girish, T M Rajashekharan, and so on. No doubt, we have shooting stars in the legal profession too. Prime in that is our dear Bro. Adv. Ramdas, who died in the prime of youth by which times he had valiantly pitted himself against very many senior lawyers on the other side. What is stated above is only a list, though not exhaustive.
History is not ‘his’ story alone but also her story. From the first lawyer of Calicut Smt. V M Leelavathy, through Smt. Karthyayani to the first rank holder Ms. Deepthi Vishnu, we have now a bevy of damsels adding hues to the Calicut Bar’ s rainbow formed by illustrious lawyers.
Justice K T Thomas who was District judge at Kozhikode rose up and became the judge of the Supreme Court. He had great regards for Calicut and the Calicut Bar. He once wrote. “Looking back my stint at Calicut was one of the great blessings almighty bestowed on me to preside over the judicial podium at that prestigious center of forensic vocation. Calicut was considered to be one of the important epi-centers and was the capital of Malabar Province earlier. Before Kerala state was formed in 1956 the district court of Calicut was within the jurisdiction of Madras High Court, which was one of the four chartered High Courts in India. Calicut District court was treated by convention as the most important judicial center next only to the High Court. A District Judge posted at Calicut was normally the senior most judicial officer and his next step was the judge of the Madras High Court’.
Justice R Basant, former Judge High Court of Kerala and now Senior counsel Supreme Court of India, the dearest chela of Mr. justice K T Thomas was one amongst us and I recall his unforgettable nostalgic declaration about the Calicut Bar.
“The thrill and fun of being a lawyer would vanish if the lawyer ceases to enjoy the company of the fraternity. If camaraderie and bonhomie among the lawyers at the Calicut bar Association were to reduce and vanish, that would be one reason less for me to worry about my personal loss. But that would definitely make me sad. That would be unfortunate and would make us all poorer.”
History never repeats. The annals ever remain vacant for the posterity to write History, write and write, go on writing. ‘The moving finger writes and having writ moves on’. Moving into the new structure the Courts in Kozhikode are adding another glorious chapter in the Judicial History associated with the historic city of Calicut.
Thank you. Long Live the camaraderie of the bench and the Bar at Calicut.
Adv. M G Asokan, President CBA