Kailash Nath Katju (17 June 1887 – 17 February 1968) was a prominent politician of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was the Governor of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, the Chief Minister of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, the Union Home Minister and the Union Defence Minister. He was also one of India's most prominent lawyers. He was part of some of the most notable cases of his times, including the Indian National Army trials. Katju joined the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

early on and spent several years incarcerated with fellow independence activists for his activities.

Early life

Kailash Nath Katju was born in the princely state of Jaora (in present-day

) on 17 June 1887. His family were Kashmiri Pandits who had settled in Jaora. His father Tribhuwan Nath Katju was a former

dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

of the state. Kailash Nath was educated at the Barr High School in Jaora, when he was sent to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

to study at the Rang Mahal School. He passed his matriculation examination from Panjab University the following year before completing his graduation from Forman Christian College, Lahore, in March 1905. In July that year, he joined the Muir Central College in

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 ...

. In September 1907, he received a degree in laws from the Allahabad University, standing second in the province. In 1908, he received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in history from the same university. He began legal profession that year 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 ...

before moving to Allahabad in 1914. He completed his doctorate in law, the LL.D. from Allahabad University in 1919, joining 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 ...

as an advocate in 1921.

Career

Katju defended the accused in the Meerut Conspiracy Case in Allahabad High Court in 1933 and later the military officers accused at the Indian National Army trials at the

Red Fort The Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila () is a historic Mughal Empire, Mughal fort in Delhi, India, that served as the primary residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, fo ...

in Delhi. On 17 July 1937, he became the Minister of Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of the United Provinces in the Govind Ballabh Pant's cabinet. He was elected to the legislature from the constituency of Allahabad district (Doaba). The ministry resigned on 2 November 1939 and soon Katju was imprisoned for 18 months. He was again imprisoned in 1942. He also served in the

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

. Between 1935 and 1937, he served as the chairman of the Allahabad Municipal Board, and later as chancellor of Prayag Mahila Vidyapith, Allahabad. Following the independence of India, Katju held many high political positions. Initially he was made the Governor of Orissa from 15 August 1947 to 20 June 1948. He became the Governor of West Bengal on 21 June 1948 and was in office till 31 October 1951. In 1951 he was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from the Mandsaur constituency, joining the cabinet of

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

as Law Minister in 1951. In November 1951 he succeeded C. Rajagopalachari as the country's third

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

. In 1955 he was made the

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. He became the Chief Minister of

on 31 January 1957, remaining in office till 11 March 1962. He also held the portfolios for general administration, home, publicity, planning and development, co-ordination and anti-corruption.

Personal life

Katju and his wife Rup Kishori had five children together: three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Shiva Nath Katju, served as a judge at the

, and after retirement, took up politics and was elected a member of the Uttar Pradesh legislature. Another son, Brahma Nath Katju, rose to serve as chief justice of the same

. One of his daughter was Saroj Mukherjee. Katju's grandsons have also achieved distinction. His grandson Markandey (son of Shiv Nath) served as a judge in 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 ...

. Another grandson is Vivek Katju, IFS, a retired diplomat who served in several sensitive positions. Tilottama Mukherji, a professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and first wife of politician and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor, is Katju's grand-daughter (daughter's daughter). Katju had recovered from a kidney ailment he had suffered in the summer of 1967. After his condition deteriorated in early February 1968, he died at 7:55 p.m. ( IST) on 17 February 1968 at his residence in

. The last rites were performed by son Shiva Nath on the bank of the Ganges the following day.

Publications

Dr Kailash Nath Katju wrote many books, some of which are the following:: * Experiments in Advocacy: A Colossus in the Courts of Justice * The days I remember * Reminiscences and experiments in advocacy He also wrote many articles and delivered many memorable speeches, including the following: * Some Judges and Lawyers whom I knew * Speech delivered on 27 November 1966, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the High Court Building.

Founder of National Herald

He was one of the founders of Associated Journals Ltd. and one of the seven original subscribers of the Memorandum of Association of the company which published National Herald and two other newspapers.AJL did not inform us or obtain approval for equity transfer, say shareholders
. Msn.com (30 September 2008). Retrieved on 2018-12-10. His shares were taken over by a company formed and closely held by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi and two others in 2012. There is a legal case of criminal conspiracy in this regard against them in a court of law in Delhi.

References

External links

Dr Kailash Nath Katju- A Tribute, Delivered by Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Misra (the then Advocate General, Uttar Pradesh), on 19 February 1968 at the Full Court reference in the Chief Justice’s Court Room on the sad demise of Dr. K.N. Katju

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katju, Kailash Nath 1887 births 1968 deaths Indian National Army trials Kashmiri people Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh Chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh University of Allahabad alumni Governors of Odisha Governors of West Bengal Members of the Constituent Assembly of India India MPs 1952–1957 Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1957–1962 Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh Lok Sabha members from Madhya Bharat Ministers of internal affairs of India Ministers of defence of India Law ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India People from Jaora Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Prisoners and detainees of British India