LAW AND LITERATURE MY OWN BOSWELL

“MY OWN BOSWELL; MEMOIERS OF M. HIDAYATULLAH”

FINAL DRAFT SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE

TITLED

LAW AND LITERATURE

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

NYAYA NAGAR, MITHAPUR, PATNA-800001

SUBMITTED TO

MR. PRATYUSH KAUSHIK

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

SUBMITTED BY

NAME- SAURABH AGRAWAL

COURSE-BBA., LLB (HONS.)

ROLL NO. – 2254

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DECELARATION OF THE CANDIDATE

I, SAURABH AGRAWAL, student of Chanakya National Law University hereby declare that
the work reported in the B.B.A.LL.B. (HONS.) project report entitled “MY OWN
BOSWELL; MEMORIES OF M. HIDAYATULLAH” submitted at Chanakya National
Law University, Patna is an authentic record of my work carried out under the supervision of
Mr. Pratyush Kaushik I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other degree or diploma.
I am responsible for the contents of my Project Report

(Signature of the Candidate)

NAME: SAURABH AGRAWAL

ROLL NO: 2254

COURSE: B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.)

SEMESTER: II

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Acknowledgment

I would like to thank my faculty Mr. Pratyush Kaushik whose guidance helped me a lot with the
structuring of my project. I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude for his
guidance and encouragement which sustained my efforts on all stages of this project.

I owe the present accomplishment of my project to my friends, who helped me immensely with

materials throughout the project and without whom I couldn’t have completed it in a present
way.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to my parents and all those unseen hands that helped me
out at every stage of my project.

THANK YOU

NAME: SAURABH AGRAWAL

ROLL NO: 2254

COURSE: B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.)

SEMESTER: II

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Table of Contents
DECELARATION OF THE CANDIDATE...................................................................................2

Acknowledgment........................................................................................................................3

AIM AND OBJECTIVES.....................................................................................................5

Education:...................................................................................................................................6

Career:........................................................................................................................................7

CONTRIBUTION AND APPRECIATION TO M. HIDYATULLAH............................8

AWARDS AND MERITS.....................................................................................................8

Golaknath v. the State of Punjab.......................................................................................10

INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION............................................................................12

CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................14

ESTABLISHMENT IN HONOUR OF M. HIDAYATULLAH......................................14

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................15

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AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The researcher aims to fulfill objectives through study the contribution of Justice M.
Hidayatullah in the legal field.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researcher will be relying on the doctrinal method of research to complete his project.

RESEARCH QUESTION

 WHAT ALL CONTRIBUTION DONE BY JUSTUCE M. HIDAYATULLAH?

INTRODUCTION
Justice Hidayatullah was an eminent jurist, scholar, author, educationalist, and linguist. Justice
Mohammad Hidayatullah was the 11th Chief Justice of India (from 25th February 1968 to
16th December 1970) and 6th Vice President of India (from 31st August 1979 to 30th August 1984)
He had also served as an acting President of India two times from 20 th July 1969 to 24th August
1969 and from 6th October 1982 to 31st October 1982.

Justice Hidayatullah was born on 17th December 1905 at Lucknow, United Province, British
India (now Uttar Pradesh, India) in a very famous Muslim upper-class family. His father was an
Urdu poet and his grandfather was an Advocate. Justice Hidayatullah was the first Muslim Chief
justice of India and 2nd Muslim to hold the post of President of India

INTRODUCTION OF AUTHOR

Justice Hidayatullah was born in 1905 in the well-known family of Khan Bahadur Hafiz
Mohammed Wilayatullah. It was an upper-class family. His father was a poet of all-India repute
who wrote poems in Urdu and probably it must have been from him that Justice Hidayatullah got
his love for language and literature. He could himself write well in Urdu. Justice Hidayatullah
made good use of the advantages which his birth in a cultured and reputed family gave him. He
had his college education in the prestigious Morris College at Nagpur where he secured the

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Phillips Scholarship and the Malak Gold Medal. After graduating from Nagpur University, he
went to England and did his Post-graduation from Trinity College, Cambridge. For the last
several years he was regarded by the Trinity College as one of its most distinguished alumni. He
was called to the Bar from Lincoln's Inn when he was just 25 years old. He had the distinction of
being the youngest Advocate General of a State, Madhya Pradesh, in 1943 and the youngest
Chief Justice of a High Court when he was appointed to the High Court of Madhya Pradesh in
1954. In his time, he was the youngest judge of the Supreme Court of India to which he was
appointed in 1958. By his keen intellect, his knowledge of the law, his love for literature, and his
dedication to his work as a Judge, he carved out a place for himself in the Supreme Court and
was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on February 25, 1968. He adorned that office for over
two years. It was during this period that, when the then President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain
died suddenly, in harness, on May 3, 1969, Justice Hidayatullah was called upon to act as the
President of India for a brief period which was made memorable because of the visit of the
American President Mr. Richard Nixon to India. After his retirement, Justice Hidayatullah was
elected as the Vice-President of India by a consensus among different parties and occupied that
high office with distinction from 1979 to August 1984. During his tenure as the Vice-President,
he won the respect of all concerned for his impartiality and independence.

Education:

He has completed his primary education from Government School of Raipur and he did his
graduation from Morris College Nagpur. Justice Hidayatullah obtained his B.A and M.A degree
from the Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He secured 2 nd order of merit and was
awarded a gold medal from there in 1930. In the same year, he was called to the Bar from
Lincoln’s inn. He pursued English and Law Tripos from there and secured a place of Barrister-
at-Law.

Justice Hidayatullah was given the best of education by his parents and he excelled himself at all
stages. He studied at Morris College, Nagpur which was the premier college in the Central
Provinces and Berar where he won the prestigious Phillips scholarship and secured the Malak
Gold Medal. Then he proceeded to England and joined the Trinity College in Cambridge. Later

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he joined the Lincoln's Inn, London, and was called to the English Bar in 1930. Lincoln's Inn
was to honor him later by making him an Honorary Bencher.

Justice Hidayatullah set up practice as an Advocate in the Judicial Commissioner's Court at

Nagpur. He soon made his mark on the criminal side and there was hardly any sensational
criminal case in which he did not appear. His rise in the legal profession was meteoric.
Government Pleader, Advocate General, puisne Judge of Nagpur High Court, Chief Justice of
Nagpur High Court, Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court, puisne Judge of the Supreme
Court and the Chief Justice of India I at every stage at an incredibly young age.

Career:

After graduation, he returned to India and enrolled himself as an Advocate of the High Court of
Central Provinces. In 1942, Justice was appointed as a government pleader of High Court at
Nagpur, in the next year he became the Advocate General of Central Province and Berar (now
Madhya Pradesh) and he served his office till his appointment as an Additional Judge of High
Court in 24th June 1946.

On 13th September 1943, Justice Hidayatullah was appointed as a permanent judge of the High
Court of Central Provinces and Berar. On 3rd December 1954, he appointed as the Chief Justice
of Nagpur High Court and became the youngest Chief Justice of High Court. After two years in
1956, he was then appointed as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court.

He was elevated as a Justice of Supreme Court on 1st December 1958. After serving as a judge of
the Supreme Court for almost 10 years on 28 th February 1968 he was appointed as the Chief
Justice of India.

In 1982 when Justice Hidayatullah was the Vice President of India. The then President of India
Zail Singh went to the United States for his medical treatment than Justice Hidayatullah was
officiated as an acting President of India. Thus he holds the office of acting president twice.

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To whichever position he was elevated, he performed his duties and functions with distinction
and sincerity. Sincerity was one of the characteristics of his attitude to life in general and his own
lifestyle. A sense of humility permeated his entire conduct. Anecdotes are told by members of
the Bar of having seen him queue up behind them in shops in Connaught Place waiting for his
turn like any other customer. He sometimes used to drive down personally in his Rover car for
making ordinary purchases.

CONTRIBUTION AND APPRECIATION TO M. HIDYATULLAH

 Justice Hidayatullah was a very well-read and widely traveled man. He was a scholar and
author of several publications. He had written many books including "Democracy in
India", Judicial Process "South-West Africa Case' Judicial Methods, "A Judge's
Miscellany", and had edited "Mulla's Mohammedan Law". He had also written his
autobiography, "My Own Boswell". His last work titled "Indian Constitution" is still in
the press.

 Apart from being singularly successful both at the Bar and the Bench, his popularity and
interest in the academic world remain unsurpassed. He had been Dean, Faculty of Law,
Nagpur University; Chancellor of Delhi, and Punjab Universities during 1979-84 and
Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia during 1969-85.

 Besides, he was President of the International Law Association (Indian Branch),

President of Indian Red Cross Society, and President of Bombay Natural History Society.
He was closely associated with the Hunger Project of the USA, World Association of
Orphans and Abandoned Children (Geneva), an Independent Commission on
International Humanitarian Issues (1982-84).
 Justice Hidayatullah was the Vice-President of India from 1979 to 1984 and acting
President in 1969 and 1982.

AWARDS AND MERITS

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 Justice Hidayatullah acclaimed many national and international awards and honors
including the Order of the British Empire in 1946, Order of the Yugoslav Flag with Sash
(1970), Medallion, and Plaque of Marit Philconsa Manila (1970) and Knight of Mark
Twain (1971).
 His interests, perceptions, and pursuits were so vast and varied that perhaps one cannot
give an honest account of any of them in a short time. He was a well-behaved, well-
mannered and a well-dressed person. He was a Gandhian in ideology, essentially
cosmopolitan in outlook, truly Indian in culture, a poet at heart, and an activist in
thoughts.
 He was a champion and crusader of Human Rights much before the idea and the
movement gained ground both in India and abroad. Through his numerous judicial
pronouncements spreading for nearly 12 years, he consciously adopted a liberal approach
towards the interpretation of Human Rights and Liberties. His basic postulate was that the
Fundamental Rights enshrined in Chapter III of the Constitution cannot be abridged or
abrogated by anyone. He was of the firm view that no organ of the State can violate
Fundamental Right.

 Among the exciting and important cases which he handled as Advocate General, there
was one that arose out of a series of riots during which the Treasuries of several
Provincial Governments were looted. The Reserve Bank of India claimed that the
Provincial Governments, as bailees, were responsible for the loss of any of the Reserve
Bank's currency deposited with the Provincial Treasuries. All the other Provincial
Advocates General who were involved conceded the Reserve Bank's claim. Mr.
Hidayatullah, however, did not concede. The case went to arbitration at Dehli.

 The exhaustive study, completed only on the Delhi train, had combed the law of
bailments through Roman Law, Storey, Jones, as well as decided cases as far back as
Coggs v. ]Bernard.8 Mr. Hidayatullah and his associates triumphantly overwhelmed the
arguments of the overconfident lawyers for the Reserve Bank, those based on absolute
liability as well as those based on negligence. The hopeless case had been won! This
victory naturally added to Mr. Hidayatullah's national recognition

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 When he was serving as Chief Justice of India, the then President Zakir Hussain died
suddenly, then the Vice President Mr. V. V. Giri became the acting President of India but
V.V Giri resigned his office from the Vice President and acting President to became a
candidate of the presidential election in 1969. Then as chief Justice of India Justice
Hidayatullah had served the post of acting President of India.

Golaknath v. the State of Punjab.

Then, in 1967, came the case of Golaknath v. State of Punjab. A Special Bench of eleven
Supreme Court Judges sat for this case. Five agreed with the earlier cases upholding all
amendments; five others disagreed, the opinion being written by Chief Justice Subba Rao. Judge
Hidayatullah concurred with Subba Rao, in a separate opinion,' thus exercising a swing vote in a
decision which has been momentous for India's constitutional history and her future prospects.

The six prevailing judges argued that although the article concerning amendments set forth the
procedure which must be followed for a valid amendment, it did not thereby confer a plenary
power to amend in any way and on all subjects. Consequently, mere compliance with proper
procedures would not make valid an amendment that conflicted with other clauses or with the
spirit of the Constitution.

In a long and scholarly opinion, Judge Hidayatullah traced the history of India's nationalist
movement since 1885 and showed that it had been a struggle throughout for human rights, a
struggle not against British rulers alone but all oppressors and all oppressions. Mr. Hidayatullah
relied heavily upon the views of Jawaharlal Nehru in his discussion. Constitutions of many
nations came under an intensive review, including our own nation's document which makes ill-
considered amendments reasonably difficult to enact,' as well as the evanescent British
Constitution which has no document but derives stability from the immemorial customs
sanctified by centuries. Each of these constitutions, however, as Mr. Hidayatullah pointed out,
was a unique document which could be properly understood only upon a historical examination
of the milieu in which each document was forged.

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In India, in the light of such an examination, the Fundamental Rights emerge as paramount,
even transcendent. Judge Hidayatullah regretted that the Fundamental Right involved in
Golaknath1 happened to be a property right because he thought that 2For a masterful study of
limits on substantive amendments to the United States Constitution under Article V, see Linder,
What in the Constitution Cannot Be Amended property rights should never have been included
in the list. But the list had to be accepted in its entirety. The main thrust of the list was in
harmony with the unanimous Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly of the
United Nations, issued just before the establishment of India's independence. Such rights, Judge
Hidayatullah reasoned, could not be abridged, even by a unanimous vote in both Houses,
because the Indian Parliament has no constituent power to rewrite or alter the very Constitution
by and under which Parliament is constituted. Viewing the Constitution, then, in its totality, as
forbidding changes in the Fundamental Rights (other than the few changes expressly permitted
'by certain constitutional clauses), the statement in the article on amendments must be read as
including an implied condition that the amendment does not violate the letter or spirit of the
Indian Constitution.

As for the earlier amendments which had been wrongly adopted, Judge Hidayatullah did not
now impugn their validity, because they had been so long and so confidently accepted. He was
recognizing what British constitutional lawyers must believe; namely, that the legitimation of
legal rules is largely a function of societal recognition of those rules as proper guides for
conduct.

The Twenty-fourth Amendment (1971) purported to reverse the holding of Golaknath that no
Fundamental Right could be infringed by a law of Parliament. Two years after that amendment,
however, the Supreme Court, while agreeing that the Fundamental Rights were not sacrosanct,
simultaneously rescued and enormously broadened Golaknath. In Kesavananda Bharati v. the
State of Kerala,3the Court announced, seven votes to six, a broader, though much vaguer, test: no
constitutional amendment can be validly made which alters the "basic structure" of the
Constitution. In 1975, early in Mrs. Gandhi's term as Prime.
1
[1967] 2 S.C.R. at 855
2
1967 A.I.R. (S.C.) 1643, [1967] 2 S.C.R. 762
3
1973 A.I.R. (S.C.) 1461, [1973] Supp. S.C.R. 1.

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INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION

Although his life's work lay chiefly in Indian law, Mr. Hidayatullah has also been actively
involved in international law as a member of the International Law Association, the Executive
Council of the World Assembly of Judges, the International Commission of Jurists, and finally,
through his association with World Peace Through World Law. Indeed, any jurist of Mr.
Hidayatullah's scholarly bent, grappling with the complex warp and woof of Indian laws-British
common law, statutes, customary, religious, and tribal laws-must work daily in what is almost an
international law to itself. His judgments (we call them opinions in Anglo-American legal
discourse) are constantly enriched .by comparative references to the laws of many nations. The
Memoirs do not purport, of course, to expound the substance or sources of Indian or other laws.
Nor do they discuss at any length India's history or its political problems.1 In the Memoirs, Mr.
Hidayatullah looks back from his seventies and tells his story in a kaleidoscopic whirl of short,
good-humored chapters that leave the reader somewhat breathless. The book is highly readable,
with bits of intense drama, triumphs, defeats, and misadventures that at times become hilarious-
all recounted with good-natured gusto. Mr. Hidayatullah's wry, mischievous humor sparkles on
many pages. There are occasional spots of hard going, particularly in the discussions of points of
law where the author too easily assumes his reader's familiarity with the cases and personalities
mentioned. But most of the book is filled with the excitement, rivalries, failures, and
accomplishments of the legal world of India, a system bequeathed by British rulers and forced to
adapt itself to the needs of India's vast ethnic diversity and the concomitant legal complexities.
After completing his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr. Hidayatullah returned to India
to start practice as an advocate (barrister) in his native Nagpur, in 1930. The rigid British
distinction between solicitors who deal with clients and barristers who represent clients in
litigation before the court, however, does not hold very generally in India. Another difference
between practice in India and practice in the United States is that law firms are scarce in India.
Hence, Mr. Hidayatullah began his practice in a manner analogous to that of a new law graduate
in the United States who hangs out a shingle and tries to make himself or herself as attractive as
possible to clients. His early emphasis was on criminal law. Although this was less remunerative
than civil law-his first year's fees totaled fifty rupees--criminal cases brought a quicker
recognition to the fledgling lawyer.

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1. Mr. Hidayatullah's other writings range widely and provide commentary on a variety of such
issues the first volume being on Indian constitutional law. TRIBUTE TO M. HIDA
YATULLAH One of his early cases smacks of Perry Mason4.
2. 2 The client was charged with having killed a pedestrian while driving on a lonely road. The
truth was that the client had seen a body lying on the road,' and had stopped his car to assist.
The pedestrian was already dead. A Police Inspector, arriving at that moment, arrested the
client in the belief that his car had killed the victim. Mr. Hidayatullah found no marks, nor
any blood, on the client's car. But he did find a piece of glass near the body, curved and large
as if broken from the headlight of a bus or truck. The driver of the offending vehicle had
gathered up the other pieces but had missed this one. The nearest place for a headlight repair
was Kamptee, a mile away and accessible only via a small road and a guarded bridge closed
to trucks. The bridge watchman informed Mr. Hidayatullah that a green truck had recently
defied him by crossing that bridge without permission. Getting the addresses of all motor-
repair garages in Kamptee, Mr. Hidayatullah struck pay dirt at his first stop. The operator's
bill-book yielded "the name of the driver (false) and the number of the truck (true)." The real
offender was arrested, and the charge against the accused was dismissed.
3. Mr. Hidayatullah studied hard in preparing his early cases. And he must have studied people
as well as books. In one case, a railway clerk had, on May 19th (i.e., during one of the
hottest parts of the Indian year), stolen one bottle of beer from a shipment.3 He had been
sentenced to a long prison term-a sentence that would also cost him his job and his
employment benefits. Mr. Hidayatullah was to argue the appeal before a very stem British
judge, temperamental and crotchety, and made more irritable by his detestation of India's
heat. The hearing was purposefully arranged by Mr. Hidayatullah for the 19th of May, the
anniversary of the crime. The courtroom had no air-conditioning and was sweltering as the
trial began. The judge commented that "Breaking bulk is a serious matter." Mr. Hidayatullah
noted that it was a hot day, and that "Come to think of it the offense was last year on the 19th
May." The judge ruminated unhappily, and "kept repeating-It must have been a hot day. . . ."
As Mr. Hidayatullah relates the story, the judge, quite transparently, was thinking how good

4
2. M. HIDAYATULLAH, My OWN BOSWELL: MEMOIRS OF M. HIDAYATULLAH 92-94 (1980)
(hereinafter cited as Memoirs).

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that bottle of beer would have tasted on such a day. Then suddenly the judge asked whether
a fine of 1000 rupees would do-the day, and the job was saved.5

CONCLUSION
Justice Hidayatullah's contribution to the legal systems as also to the political, social, and cultural
systems is immense. His statesmanship in the Indian polity and his relevance to the Indian
society will be felt more strongly over time. His understanding of such diversified fields as
philosophy, politics, law, religion, literature, art, history, and other aspects of human and social
life truly makes him an outstanding personality.

Above all, Justice Hidayatullah was a great human being. He had been very considerate and
polite both at the Bar and the Bench. His contemporary Supreme Court staff members bear
witness to his kind-heartedness and large-heartedness.
Throughout his career as a Judge, he displayed a quick grasp and keen intellect coupled with
good manners and courtesy. He had a sharp and ready wit but never put it to use to hurt others.
He was a lover of literature and this became clear to anyone who had to go through his
judgments.
Late Justice Hidayatullah once said-one who does not believe in punctuality of time does
not have faith in the rule of law.

ESTABLISHMENT IN HONOUR OF M. HIDAYATULLAH

The Hidayatullah National Law University was established in 2003 in the honor of Justice
Hidayatullah in Raipur. The University organizes the justice Hidayatullah Memorial National
Moot Court Competition (HMNMCC) every year in his memory.

5
3. Id. at 74-75.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

 M. HIDAYATULLAH, My OWN BOSWELL: MEMOIRS OF M. HIDAYATULLAH

92-94 (1980) (hereinafter cited as Memoirs).
 Cornell International Law Journal Volume 16 Issue 1 Winter 1983

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