Saadar Court, Srinagar: Repository of Legal Giants

Nostalgia

Of A Temple of Justice

Creatively blending facts with fiction, he told us that here was a lawyer who won a case without carrying any books to the court

ZGM

The long winter vacations, with all their loveliness had some sluggish moments. When I got bored with homework or got stuck up on a mathematics question, I liked to go out and sit with my friends on shop fronts in our Mohalla. One of our favorite shop fronts was of a coppersmith, man with razor-sharp mind and memory and an encyclopedia on the freedom struggle- a great devotee of Jinnah. Talking about the struggle, he often referred to some leaders as judga-Kala suggesting as brainy as a judge and some others as wangan-Kala (stubborn).  The phrase judga-Kala as a young child had made me believe that all judges were wisdom incarnate, ‘who wore round their waist copper-plates and carried on head lighted torch.’

The Saddar Court, was more than three miles away from our home and I had never visited it. I had never seen a judge sitting in a magnificent ornate chair inside a court dispensing justice.  It was during my days in college in the late sixties, I for the first time saw the Saddar Court,   stone, brick and wooden building- a piece of British architecture constructed in 1912.

Some of my friends, despite merit had not been admitted to the Medical College. They had filed a writ petition in the High Court. In solidarity I had joined them on a date of hearing.   The lawyers dressed in black flying-robe strolling across the courtroom for me was as exciting as reading about the Roman Courtrooms.  The host of senior lawyers including some top lawyer-leaders of the Plebiscite Front and the Political Conference leisurely sitting under the canopy of majestic Chinar not only reminded me of the famous Shakespearean quote, ‘good counselors lack no clients’ but also about the stories of greatest South-Asians leaders appearing as lawyers in the Saddar Court.  That had almost become part of the folklore of the downtown.

Inside the courtroom, I had started imagining the scene when Poet of East, Allama Mohammad Iqbal would have entered the portals of the Saddar Court in June 1921- his first and last visit to Kashmir. Despite, receiving invitations from his admirers since 1902 and his deep desire to visit the land of his ancestors, it was court case of Sheikh Mohammad Baksh and Seth Kareem Baksh that made his visit to Srinagar possible. In Srinagar he also appeared in the court in a murder case of Abdul Rahman Rah. It was during his stay in the salubrious environs that he had  gifted to  the world of literature famous poem Sakinama:

Jawanon Ko Soz-E-Jigar Bakhs De

Mera Ishq, Meri Nazar Bakhs De

The lawyers donned in black gowns, arguing if injustice had been done to my friends’ or not made me visualize the scenes when great South Asian lawyers known for having conjured a nation state through his typewriter would have argued in the Saddar Court. In 1936, Mohammad Ali Jinnah was on holiday and one Mirza Ali had implored him to take up his wife and his case. The story about the lawyer and the case narrated by the coppersmith sounded to us as good as a fairy-tale.   Creatively blending facts with fiction, he told us that here was a lawyer who won a case without carrying any books to the court. And then there were lawyers who traveled to court with Tonga-loads of books and never won a case- but enjoyed the patronage of the Durbar. He was referring to two lawyers of the thirties living in the locality.

There were also stories about Congress leader Asif Ali appearing for Sheikh Abdullah in 1946 and by challenging the legitimacy of the Treaty of Amritsar he had made a good case against    Maharaja Hari Singh Ruling the state.

The Saddar Court thus is a grand monument worth making into a law museum.

Published in Greater Kashmir on 19-03-17

 Asif Ali who had appeared for Baghat Singh had also appeared in Saddar Court Srinagar for Sheikh Abdullah