I remember as a young boy often cycling to a library in Bhopal, adjacent to which was a small hospital called Katju Hospital. The name did not mean anything to me, as also to most others, until upon inquiry I came to know that it was named after an iconic early Chief Minister of the state.
Few people in Madhya Pradesh know of this man born in a small place in the state who rose to occupy almost all high offices in independent India except the those of President, Vice-President and the Prime Minister. Dr Kailashnath Katju, a jewel of the province, had been at various times of his public career, the Union Defence Minister, Union Home Minister, Chief Minister of the state, and Governor of West Bengal and Odisha. He was one of the topmost lawyers of the country and like some others of that generation, one who sacrificed a fabulously rewarding practice to dedicate himself to the service of the country.
He was born in 1887 in Jaora (in Ratlam district) which was then a small princely state in MP, where his father served as a Dewan. His family line was that of Kashmiri Brahmins. He did his early schooling in Jaora and then graduated from Lahore university. He later studied history and law at Allahabad University. He started his legal apprenticeship in Kanpur under Pandit Prithinath Chak and again moved to Allahabad where he became as assistant to the legendary Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. At that time Allahabad Court had great iconic lawyers and jurists like Sir Sapru, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Pandit Sundarlal, Purushottamdas Tandan, and Dr Satishchandra Banerjee. The young Jawaharlal Nehru too worked there until the Non Cooperation Movement when he finally dedicated himself to the national cause. Nehru and Katju remained life-long friends; they had Allahabad as their common base as well as roots in Kashmir. Katju always addressed Nehru as ‘Jawaharbhai’ or simply ‘Bhai.’
While in Allahabad, Katju completed his doctor of law from Allahabad University and quickly rose in his profession, establishing his reputation as a legal luminary par excellence. He was erudite in worldwide legal scholarship and at the same time had an enviable record of winning cases at the Allahabad High Court. He was known to read material of 500 pages late in the evening and successfully argue the case the following morning. He had a very sharp intution with regard to the winning points of any case and argued it along those lines. Dr Katju became one of the highest earning lawyers in the whole country. Always at the forefront of civic duties and philanthropy, he supported the education of poor students for their higher education and encouraged them to do the same once they get established. He was also a major benefactor of the Indian National Congress ever since the Non Cooperation Movement.
The years 1927-28 witnessed widespread labour movements and strikes across the country. Behind this to a considerable extent was the fledgling communist movement which was growing in influence. In order to silence the organised labour movement the British administration made a large number of arrests of communist leaders. The trial which went on four years famously came to be known as the Meerut Conspiracy Case. Among those who were arrested were several pioneering communist leaders like Muzaffar Ahmed, S.A. Dange, and P.C. Joshi. At the behest of the Congress leadership a Defence Committee was formed under Pandit Motilal Nehru in this matter. Dr Katju as the Principal Defense Counsel represented the under-trials in this case.
In the 1930s Dr Katju began taking a more direct role in politics. He was a member of the All India Congress Committee and in 1935 became Chairman of the Allahabad Municipal Board. After the provincial elections of 1937 when the government under Govind Ballabh Pant was formed he was invited to become the Minister of Law and Justice. He is said to have shown his bank passbook to Pant revealing his wealth, saying he did not want anyone to show an accusing finger at him later of having profited from office. At this time he won as a legislator from a seat in Allahabad. He spent two years in prison in early 1940s when he courted arrest in the individual Satyagraha started by Mahatma Gandhi. He defended those convicted in the INA trials along with Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, and Asaf Ali.
When the country became independent he was first made the Governor of Orissa and thereafter the Governor of West Bengal. It is said that it was Lord Mountbatten who suggested Nehru to make Dr Katju the Governor of West Bengal. Dr Katju was also a member of the Constituent Assembly. During the first Lok Sabha elections he was fielded from Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. He was dismissive of the idea of Nehru campaigning for him in his constituency, thinking it to be nothing short of humiliation if Nehru had to ask votes for him; such was his faith in the people he wanted to represent. Having won the seat, he was given the portfolio of Home ministry where he succeeded the redoubtable C. Rajagopalachari. Later he was made the Defence Minister.
In 1957 Nehru sent Dr Katju to Madhya Pradesh as its Chief Minister. Among his major contributions was the Gandhi Sagar Dam on the river Chambal which has benefitted poor people of several districts in MP as well as Rajasthan. It is said that Dr Katju requested the Birla family to construct a temple at the scenic location on a hill in Bhopal and the temple construction started in 1960. The temple has for decades been a landmark in that city of lakes and attracts local people as well as tourists in big numbers.
Navigating through the maze of power politics was not something that suited a man like Dr Katju. For this reason he fell victim to power strggles within his own party and lost his own assembly seat in the 1962 elections. Bhagwantrao Mandloi was made a stopgap Chief Minister by Nehru. On Nehru’s request Dr Katju contested a bye-election which he won. However, the legislators did not quite repose faith in his leadership and Dr Katju left the political arena once and for all. It is said that Nehru was livid at the ignoble behaviour meted out to a perfect gentleman like Dr Katju for whom politics was a path of sacrifice and service.
Dr Katju went back to Allahabad and immersed himself in scholarship for the last few years of his life. He had written several books and memoirs including his autobiography ‘Experiments in Advocacy.’ He often said that the stories of cases that play out in court rooms could match the best fictional literature as far a drama of human life was concerned. He also wrote biographical sketches of many figures he came across in his legal career and public life. He passed away in 1968.
Among Dr Katju’s sons was Brahmanath Katju who served as the Chief justice of the Allahabad High Court and Shivanath Katju who served as a judge in the same court and had also been also a Congress legislator. Shivnath’s son Markandey Katju was a Supreme Court judge.
For men like Dr Katju politics was a mission. It was the office that such men held that stood honoured by such occupants.