Justice V Ratnam- A Remembrance                   Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan super

 

Justice V Ratnam- A Remembrance

Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

 

Even as one was reading a news report that the retiring Chief Justice of India had written a  parting letter to the Prime Minister of India, recommending more judges to the constitutional courts , this  exclusive personal invite, landed  on one’s table. Thoughts pivoted. Can there be another nominee of the likes of Viswanatha Sastri or a V Ratnam?

 

Chief Justice M C Chagla, put it brutally long ago ‘ Numbers mean little. More meant more pendency. What mattered was quality not quantity. If I did not get a fitting candidate,  I let the vacancy  to continue”. Justice V Ratnam’s departure to meet the maker has meant that his vacancy remains unfilled.

 

For,  he was a Judge with a Capital J. He strode the corridors and court as a colossus. A true blue colossus, if there  ever was one. He did not wear a crown on the cranium. He was born with one. Along with with  a sparkling  silver spoon. For, he was the son of the legendary A V Viswanatha Sastri.

 

Like father, like son. Fali S Nariman gives a classic and unbelievable example of an episode in the Supreme Court, between the great Advocate Viswanatha Sastri (his portrait hangs in the Advocate’s Lounge in the Supreme Court) and Justice R.S. Bachawat, a great Judge. While Sastri was arguing in his inimitable ‘soft-but-sure’ manner, Justice Bachawat reminded Viswanatha Sastri that the proposition he was affirming in his argument was directly contrary to what the Privy Council had said in another case. There was silence in the Court. What would be the response of Viswanatha Sastri ?

 

After all, except Justice Bachawat no one (including other two brother Judges sitting with him) would know this decision of the Privy Council, thought everybody. But here is the reply from Viswanatha Sastri:

“Yes, Mi Lord, and that is the only decision of the Privy Council that has been adversely commented on in “Halsbury’s Laws of England” in volume [such-and-such.]”.

 

This was too much for Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, a scholar Judge sitting in the Bench who suspended the proceedings and ordered that the books be brought to the Court. Sure enough there was the judgement of the Privy Council as Justice Bachawat had recollected and equally surely there was that passage in “Halsbury’s Laws of England” which commented adversely on the opinion of the Privy Council!

 

That was the father. What of the son? You can substitute the names of the entities, you can have the son, if you had the opportunity to interact with him as an advocate and appear before him as a Judge. He was very learned with an elephantine memory and power of recall to stump the best in the business.

 

Justice Viswanatha Ratnam died on 23rd May, 2020, all of 88 years. (1932-2020). “He was not a chip of the old block. But a chipped whole block”, said Justice V R Krishna Iyer, when he saw Justice V Ratnam pro actively associated with Legal Aid activities.

Ratnam was born a Judge. Born in Thanjavur, schooled in P. S. High School, Mylapore, on to Presidency College and then Madras Law College, saw him become a lawyer, he was destined to be. He apprenticed under G R Jagadisan (Judge to be) and then upon enrolment, tutored under S Ramachandra Iyer (who became Chief Justice).

 

It was only a matter of qualifying to be a Judge as he was made a Permanent Judge on 25th Jan,1979. He was Acting Chief Justice, Madras High Court since 15th Nov,1992 until he was elevated as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh, on and from 28th Jan,1994 till his retirement on 1st Aug,1994. Interestingly, he was Governor of the State of Himachal Pradesh for 19 days, during his tenure.

 

Justice V Ratnam was a prolific writer of judgments. His ability to marshal the facts and apply the law was legendary. He ’hardly required any assistance from the lawyers, which proved to be both an asset and a disadvantage”, said Senior Advocate S.Sampathkumar. The Judge had a presence. He sat tall in his position and added lustre to it and not the other way around. And his booming voice which filled the unairconditioned halls, even the larger ones as the 3rd court hall, was a pleasure to behold.

 

As he walked in the corridors to the Court by himself or with a brother judge, with his arms tagged together on the rear, he let it be known that a JUDGE was on his way to his COURT. Senior M R Narayanaswami once said, “Ratnam seemed arrogant and aloof. He literally looked down upon from above. To my generation,  used to the cleverest among them, he was confidence personified. Such presence mattered,  for he was truly the lord of all he surveyed in his court and that is as it ought to be”

 

He was perceived as a terror to those who were ill prepared. It did not matter to him whether a raw junior appeared or a grey haired Senior appeared. He did not suffer fools. There was an element of majesty in the slow manner in which he entered the Court hall with his huge frame and climbed the stairs to the Bench. He elevated the status of the Court hall as a place of reverence and respect. And as he sat down and picked up his sharpened pencil, the court was in the serious business of being in session. There was no practice of mentioning or seeking adjournments. Aware of the strict practices, the Bar adjusted itself , as complaints did not matter.

 

His ‘arrogance’ came from his pedigree. Even Thiruvalluvar does not decry such arrogance which inheres from erudition. He never put down juniors who appeared before him with confidence, and a sense of well preparedness. Tales were spread in the corridors that he was schoolmasterly. Yes, he was. That was because he valued his time.He did not suffer fools. And he believed that there were far too many.

 

It would be a tiring effort to identify his landmark verdicts. There are so many. Let us say that on the civil side he gets relied upon every other day. And when puisne judges see who the author was and it was he, it gains credence. That is the legacy he has left behind.Doubts do not linger any more.

 

Some of us who were fortunate to be born in the right generation, were delighted to appear before his court. There was nervousness in the air but that was enriching not enervating. It was like the start of a new test match on a new pitch and having to face fearsome fast bowlers in tandem with the new red cherry. Butterflies in the stomach enhanced the occasion. Every day was a new day. And if one passed the crucible before the Ratnam Court- you ‘had nothing to fear except fear itself’ as Franklin Roosevelt famously said, in the profession .It was cake walk before other Judges.

 

His death was a huge loss to the legal profession, Judges and lawyers included. One can recall even today in the mind’s eye the tall gangling judge sitting on his throne in the 3rd Court and booming, “Call the next case’. Or he being seated in his Chambers on the 2nd floor looking out into the open windows, to the Port Trust premises on the eastern side, as you took permission to enter. With ceiling fan on, there would be three more table fans whirring along to dampen the heat of the times, and his powdered face shouting out, ”Ennada” as he called out and smiled. You felt comforted to be awe-struck to be in his presence. He willingly wrote a scholarly Foreword for a book of mine on Marine Insurance.

 

That many were scared to appear before him, was an understatement. His presence and stentorian voice with a Nataraj pencil from the famed Perumal Cherry showroom in Anna Salai , tucked between his fingers, and a piercing look, added to his presence. Refusal to appear before him, communicated the practitioners’ failings. Not his. Some sweated and turned nervous wrecks before him, as he could sweep them off the floor, with sharp bouncers on facts and law. And he wanted instant response. “It was unplayable chin music and if you passed his  smell test, you can claim to have Made It”, said a fellow practitioner.

 

Believe me you, some of us loved appearing before him. Reluctance of others meant one was overloaded with briefs, before him. It was a glorious  opportunity to appear at The Lords, day after day, and face the likes of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith beamers, and as a training ground, it could not have been in a tougher mileu, and get to engage  in intellectual tangles of high order. If you got his Nod, it was  unmatched huge elixir.

 

He valued time. He never entertained adjournments. But he never said it or print it on the Cause List. It was a given. So no one sought one. He did not tolerate rambling submissions. He wanted the practitioners to zero in on the nub of the dispute , as if a sharp shooter. If the practitioner was not up to it, he wryly said- “ Counsel, don’t you know what to say when you are searching for submissions. Just say- ‘Leave it to Your Lordship and be done with it.  Or

,is even that beyond your ken”. He hit you with his manner and the words were appendage. It was tough to be at the wrong end. But lovely to be on the right side.

 

It was a Friday. Cause List came only  on the mornings of the day . Unlike online, the previous evening, these days. One had to come in early to be ready. I came in at 07.45 hrs as usual. Our office clerk was already there. He was fretting. “Sir,A CRP is listed as Item No.1 before Justice Ratnam today. Bundle is not there. We appear for the petitioner. I can’t make  out who is the petitioner. ( Those days Cause Titles were not printed in the Cause List- just the case number, you see). Judge won’t give any adjournment. How will you represent Sir”.

 

Only for a minute,  I was dumbfounded. At 08.30 am I went into the court hall. I saw the Office Assistant Srinivasan busily dusting the judge’s seat. And coming down, to  set right the case bundles in order. “ Srinivasan, I am in a soup. Our CRP is first item. I am for the petitioner. The case is 5 years old. Our office bundle has gone missing. I know nothing about the case. Can you help?”.

 

Srinivasan,” Thambi, Intha court bundle. Run  out. Get a copy (xerox) and get it back in a jiffy. Before other staff members walk in”. I did as I was told and ordered. I felt relieved,  as I had an hour to read the papers and get ready. And I did. It was a ticklish case but there was previous authority from Justice V Ratnam himself ( he loved it when practitioners’ placed reliance on his earlier pronouncements). I walked into  his court hall  with confidence,  not diffidence.

 

No ‘Mentions’  before his court, like these days. No calling of the cause list, item by item, and offer  convenient adjournments. Nothing of this kind. He walked in tall to the hissing of the dafedar. Dressed in sparkling white. With a coat crisply cleaned and shining black. And the lawyer’s gown in perfect symmetry. And lawyer’s band, white as if in Surf commercial, in perfect place round his neck. And black shoes reflecting his visage. He stood tall as he walked the few steps to the podium. Sat tall with a shuffle of his feet.

 

As if on cue, the Court officer quietly yelled out, “ Item No 1…..”. I was seated in the first seat in the semi circular mahogany table of rich heritage and century old vintage. I got up. Saw the judge pull out his Note paper. And his pencil was tucked between his long fingers. Meant he was ready to LISTEN. Not just hear. He LISTENED.

 

As I was about to commence, with the newly copied/minted papers, Judge looked up. Cast a curious and mischievous glance.And then he ‘smelt’ the  original paper book in his hands. Yes, right ‘smelt’ it. And said this, “ Counsel, I can smell your effort to get ready. You are obviously the beneficiary of a bounty from this court. At least, you had the good sense to do some dance in this court before these proceedings. And not  indulge in cringing advocacy to crave for adjournment. GET ALONG”,  he thundered with his customary nasal twang. It was the sounding of the bugle,  as it were.

 

You see, what had happened was this. It was in the 1990s. Copier machines – (xerox)- left behind ‘petroleum smell’ on the papers. One could sense it from the original and the copy. Srinivasan got a hint from what the Judge said and took to his heels. He was experienced enough to understand  and what was uttered  even if in British English.

 

That was who Justice V Ratnam was. He belonged to law. It was a pity he was passed over from being elevated to Supreme Court,  where his father practiced. It was not his loss. He was too big to lose. And it is more of a pity that God has lost the Art of making the likes of him!

 

What a man! What a Judge!

 

( Author of Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar, Kalaimagal Publications, to be published on 11th Sept,2022, his 101st death anniversary- and practicing advocate in the Madras High Court)

 

 

 

What a Man! What a Judge!