Shiva Nath Katju (5 January 1910 – 9 September 1996) was an Indian lawyer, judge and an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

politician. He was a member of the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, also known as Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house. Member of the Legislative Assembl ...

(1952–1957) and the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council also known as Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, c ...

(1958–1962). He was also a judge at the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

, and a President of the

Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to orga ...

Early life

Shiva Nath Katju was born on 5 January 1910 in

Jaora Jaora is a city and a municipality in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jaora is located in the Malwa region, between Ratlam and Mandsaur. It was the capital of the Jaora princely state of Jaora before Independence. Durin ...

, to Roopan and

Kailash Nath Katju Kailash Nath Katju (17 June 1887 – 17 February 1968) was a prominent politician of India. He was the Governor of Odisha and West Bengal, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Union Home Minister and the Union Defence Minister. He was ...

. He completed his primary education at the Bar High School in Jaora. Subsequently, his family moved to

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

, where he attended the City A.V. School,

Government Intermediate College Government Intermediate Colleges (GICs) are central government secondary schools in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh. For instance there are 19 GICs in Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , A ...

and the

University of Allahabad The University of Allahabad is a Central university (India), Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). ...

Career

S. N. Katju enrolled as an Advocate at the Allahabad High Court on 27 August 1932. He initially practised law in

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

, and then moved to Allahabad in July 1935. He mainly handled civil cases. In 1938–39, he became an Advocate at the

Federal Court of India The Federal Court of India was a judicial body, established in India in 1937 under the provisions of the ''Government of India Act 1935'', with original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. It functioned until the Supreme Court of India was esta ...

, a predecessor of the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

. He also worked as a part-time lecturer in law at the Allahabad University. He was also politically active, and was a member of the

. In the

1952 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election Elections to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held on 26 March 1952. 2,604 candidates contested for the 347 constituencies in the Assembly. The Indian National Congress won the majority of seats and its leader Govind Ballabh Pant was ...

, Katju was elected as a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

from the Phulpur Central constituency. As an MLA, he opposed proposals to divide Uttar Pradesh into small states, on the grounds that it would promote separatism. In 1958, he became a member of the

, the upper house of the Uttar Pradesh legislature. On 23 April 1962, he was appointed an Additional Judge at the Allahabad High Court for a duration of two years. On 23 July 1963, he was made a permanent judge.

Activism

S. N. Katju was a noted

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

activist. In the 1950s, he claimed that the tree worshipped as Akshayavat in the Patalpuri Temple of

Allahabad Fort Allahabad Fort was built by the Mughal emperor Akbar at Allahabad (modern Prayagraj) in 1583. The fort stands on the banks of the Yamuna, near its confluence with the Ganges. It is classified by the Archaeological Survey of India as a monument ...

was only a log. The commander of the fort acknowledged his claim as true. Katju sought to put an end to this "deception and fraud practised on the Hindu public", but the District Magistrate of Allahabad decided in favour of maintaining status quo. In 1978, Katju became the President of the Varanasi branch of

Bhagwan Gopinath Bhagwan Gopinath (3 July 1898 – 28 May 1968), born Gopinath Bhan, also called Bhagwan Gopinath Ji, was a mystic saint of early 20th century Kashmir in India. He has been called a ''jivanmukta'' (liberated soul) and his spiritual state has b ...

Trust. He was also a member of the

, and became its president in the late 1980s. As a VHP leader, he campaigned for the construction of a Hindu temple at the

Ram Janmabhoomi Ram Janmabhoomi () is the site that, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu rive ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

. He was put under house arrest during the height of this campaign.

Personal life

Katju married Girja (1913–1938), and after her death, Raj Kumari (1912–2006). His brother Brahma Nath was a Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. His son Markandey became a Judge at the Supreme Court of India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katju, Shiva Nath Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1952–1957 Members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Judges of the Allahabad High Court People from Jaora Kashmiri Pandits Kashmiri Hindus Vishva Hindu Parishad members 1910 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Indian judges