Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde (3 July 1909 – 22 March 2004) was a prominent Indian lawyer, civil rights activist, and humanist leader and has been referred to as the "Father of the Civil Liberties movement" in India and a former judge of the Bombay High CourtOutlook MAR 24, 2004 TRIBUTE – Father Of Civil Liberties In India
/ref> The Supreme Court of India also praised him as "undoubtedly the most distinguished judge of the post- Chagla 1957 period" in the

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

.Full Court Reference in memory of Late Shri V M Tarkunde, Senior Advocate, on Wednesday, 7 April 2004 in the Supreme Court of India Address by Soli J Sorabjee Attorney General for India

Early life and education

Vithal Mahadeo Tarkunde was born in

Saswad Saswad is a municipal council located on South-Eastern corridor of Pune district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Saswad is situated on the banks of the Karha River. Saswad is about 31 km from Pune-Central Station. History Saswad is ...

, Pune District, Maharashtra on 3 July 1909. He was the 2nd of the five children of Mahadeo Rajaram Tarkunde, a popular lawyer and social reformer at

, then headquarters of

Purandar taluka Purandar taluka is a taluka of Pune district of the state of Maharashtra in India.Talukas in Pune district
...

adjoining Pune. His father, a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

by caste, had fought against the practice of

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

.A Restless Crusader for Human Rights – M A Rane, PUCL Bulletin Special Issue Justice Tarkunde: Vol. XXVII, No. 3 MARCH 2007 In 1920 he migrated from Saswad to Pune and joined the New English School, Pune. In the Matriculation examination of 1925 held by the

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, he stood first in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency. He also secured the prestigious Jagannath Shankersheth Scholarship for Sanskrit. He then joined the

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by Vaman Shriram Apte, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnushashtri Chiplunkar, Mah ...

for BA which he completed in 1929, subsequently moving to London, where he attended the Lincoln's Inn and qualified as a

Barrister-at-Law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giv ...

in 1931. He also attended lectures in economics, political science and social anthropology at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

(LSE) as an external student. He returned to India the next year in December and commenced his legal practice in Pune.Author Overview – Voice of A Great Sentinel: Selected Writings of V.M. Tarkunde – 1 January 2004, 1st ed. – Renaissance Publishers Pvt. Ltd. In Memoriam, Justice V.M. Tarkunde (1909–2004)
/ref>

Legal career

Tarkunde started practice at Pune soon after he returned to India in 1933. He continued there till 1942 when he gave up his practice to become a full-time member of the Radical Democratic Party. He resumed his legal practice in the

in 1948 after

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

and was elevated to the bench as a Judge of the

in September 1957. He stepped down voluntarily as Judge of the Bombay High Court in 1969 and set up practice 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 ...

where he continued till his resignation in 1977 at the age of 68. He was chiefly concerned with

Public Interest Litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). It refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability ...

s and constitutional cases, most of which he conducted with little or no fees.

Activism

In 1933, he joined the

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of ...

(CSP) and the

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 ...

but later left the CSP disillusioned with their vote against

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

in the January 1939 Tripuri session of Congress. He then joined the League of Radical Congressmen led by his mentor M. N. Roy in April 1939. In 1940, Roy and Tarkunde, along with several others, left the Congress after dissenting on the question of participation in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Roy advocated participation in the war against the

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

, while simultaneously striving for Indian independence, and founded the Radical Democratic Party to further this cause. In 1942, Tarkunde gave up his legal practice to become a full-time member of the Radical Democratic Party and was elected General Secretary of the RDP in 1944, thereby migrating to Delhi. By 1946 Roy formulated the philosophy of New Humanism. By 1948 he and Roy decided that political parties were an inadequate instrument for promoting freedom of the people and so dissolved the RDP in December 1948. He returned to legal practice the same year.

Radical Humanism

In 1969, Tarkunde founded the Indian Radical Humanist Association as an organisation for radical humanists. He also began editing the ''Radical Humanist'' (founded in 1937 by Roy as ''Independent India'') in April 1970, supporting it initially with his own income. In 1973 he was one of the signers of the

Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original '' A Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as ''Humanist Manifesto'' I), the '' Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and '' Human ...

Emergency

During the

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, he worked closely with

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

, providing leadership to the NGOs Citizens for Democracy and

People's Union for Civil Liberties People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR). Background Indian emergency Jayaprakash Narayan was ...

, of which he was the founding president. He also worked on the

Citizen's Justice Committee Citizen's Justice Committee (commonly known as CJC) is an Indian umbrella organization of various human rights organizations and is known for ''pro bono'' representing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims in their legal battle to gain justice. For ...

and played a principal part in resisting and investigating the excesses of the period, including the

1984 Anti-Sikh riots The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs w ...

, and human rights violations in the Punjab, Kashmir, and the North-East. His refusal to consider kashmiri pandits who had fled valley in 1990 as human right victims caused much controversy and led to his dubbing as " Terrorists' defender in chief" as he regularly attacked Indian army for fake encounters and extra judicial killings.In 1995, he departed from his earlier stand of considering firing by police as human rights violation and defended UP government in Muzaffarnagar police firing and rape on Uttarakhand state demand activists on 2 October 1994 in Supreme Court.His volte face was noted by honourable bench with humour and he won the case with court ruling that there was not adequate evidence of wilful human rights violation by State government.But it led to his breaking ranks with radical humanists. Tarkunde was a board member for the

International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Fou ...

(

IHEU Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Foun ...

), the world union of Humanist organisations for over 40 years.IHEU Glossary VM Tarkunde
/ref>

Awards and honours

At the 1978 London Congress of the

, VM Tarkunde received the International Humanist Award 1978. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

in 1998.

Books

# Radical humanism: The philosophy of freedom and democracyAmazon book search V M Tarkunde
/ref> # Report to the Nation:Oppression in Punjab # Communalism and human rights (J.P. memorial lecture) # Through humanist eyes # Radical humanism: The philosophy of freedom and democracy # For freedom # Kashmir problem: Possible solutions # Great Britain and India # The danger ahead: An analysis of congress capitalist alignment

References

External links

People's Union for Civil LibertiesIndian Radical Humanist Association
* ttp://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/43614 He administered justice, not just law, the Bar’s noblest soul’ FALI S NARIMAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarkunde, V. M. 1909 births 20th-century Indian judges 2004 deaths Indian human rights activists Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Marathi people 20th-century Indian lawyers Indian humanists Indian civil rights activists People from Pune district Judges of the Bombay High Court Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Fergusson College alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics