THE FORGOTTEN LEGAL LUMINARY BEHIND
THE FIRST CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT
BAJRANG SAHAY
(01st December 1896-18th December 1968)
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| KRISHNA BALLABH SAHAY (31 DECEMBER 1898-3 JUNE 1974) |
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| THE LETTER BAJRANG SAHAY WROTE TO DR RAJENDRA PRASAD |
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| THE CONFIDENTIAL FORTNIGHTLY REPORT (COURTESY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES) |
After completing his schooling at Zila School, Hazaribagh, Krishna Ballabh Sahay took admission in the Saint Columba’s College in the 1914-15 sessions. Bajrang Sahay was his senior in the same college. Some common personality traits brought them near and made them lifelong friends- both of them were intelligent scholars, both of them were popular in the debating society of their college due to their oratory skills, both of them were strongly averse to any sort of injustice upon fellow countrymen, both of them were very sharp in their understanding of an issue of public interest and above all both of them were ardent followers of Mahatma Gandhi.
As enlightened youths, they aspired to contribute
to the freedom struggle. Their compassion towards their fellow countrymen was
reflected even during their college days when they took up the case of their
fellow friend who was implicated in a false case by the Police and local
administration. As Mahatma Gandhi’s committed foot-soldiers, they were convinced of the efficacy of the
weapons of truth and non-violence against an oppressive alien despot and they
applied this with a considerable measure of success to save their friend. The
incident is of 18th December 1918 when the Hazaribagh police entered
Saint Columba’s College campus to arrest Ram Binod Singh, son of a police
employee Jai Kishan Singh of Muzaffarpur. The police suspected that Ram Binod
Singh was an accomplice of the Muzaffarpur revolutionaries. Even though his
father served the same British Police force, K. B. Sahay along with Bajrang
Sahay organized a ‘hartal’ in the
college premises to protest the entry of police in college premises. The
protest ‘hartal’, though spontaneous,
was attended by a large number of students. The police exerted pressure on the
College administration and despite the ‘hartal’,
Ram Binod Singh was arrested by the police and sent to the Hazaribagh Central
Jail. Ram Binod Singh’s arrest further aggravated students’ resentment against
the British Government. When the police refused to listen to the plea of
students, the duo of Bajrang Sahay and Krishna Ballabh Sahay approached higher
authorities to apprise them of their friend’s case.
Simultaneously,
K. B. Sahay and Bajrang Sahay assisted Ram Binod Singh’s parents to take up his
son’s case before the then Deputy Commissioner of Hazaribagh A. P. Middleton
and also helped them in getting permission to meet their son in jail. The inherent
brilliance of Bajrang Sahay’s in the matter of argument of his friend’s case
can be judged from the fact that Ram Binod Singh was ultimately exonerated in
the case. Given their age, it was a big victory for the duo. During the period
when their friend was under trauma, K.B. Sahay was always present to extend all
possible help to Ram Binod Singh and his father. This was a small incident but one
can judge the sense of compassion of these youths which extended beyond any
boundaries. In years to come, the duo took up the fight on behalf of the poor
and the oppressed into the enemy’s den, especially during the passage of the Zamindari
Abolition Bill.
In 1921 the 16th Session of the Behari
Students Conference was organised under the Presidentship of Srimati Sarala
Debi, at Hazaribagh, during the Dasahara festival as was the wont, on the 5th-6th
October. The Behari Students’ Conference was established in 1906 with Dr
Rajendra Prasad as one of the prime movers. This was the first platform where
Behari students met to discuss questions of common interest. It was a cautious
decision taken by the ‘elders’ like Babu Braja Kishore Prasad, Sachchidanand
Sinha and Mahesh Narayan to have a non-political orientation for the Behari
Students’ Conference so that students, in the words of Babu Braja Kishore
Prasad, may ‘get a sound education in the principles of politics so that
they may be able to play their part and play it well when the time arrives’.
These words proved prophetic during the Champaran movement, as mentioned by Dr
Rajendra Prasad in his Autobiography. The volunteers who worked with
Gandhiji, Braja Kishore Prasad Rajkumar Shukla, Rajendra Prasad and other
leaders were drawn from the ranks of the Students’ Conference and they played
their part heroically when the time arrived for it. It may be worthwhile to
mention that for the next two decades, all major political and national
movement leaders from Bihar were the products of the Behari Student’s
Conference. So strong were the teachings of the ‘elders’ to students during the
annual conferences that it remained etched in their memory lifelong and carved
them into leaders with nerves of steel. The event in 1921 was actively
organized by Babu Bajrang Sahay and Ram Narayan Singh who appealed to students
‘to throw off the yoke of foreign domination over the soul’.
Three resolutions were passed at this conference
1)
Boycott of Government Schools and
Colleges;
2)
A Resolution that students should
devote at least half an hour every day and two hours every Sunday to the
spinning of yarn;
3)
Prohibiting the student community from
taking part in the festivities connected with the visit of His Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales.
Bajrang Sahay, Krishna Ballabh Sahay and other
youths like them worked shoulder to shoulder to make the event a grand success.
After graduating from Saint Columba’s College, K.
B. Sahay entered into the freedom struggle while Bajrang Sahay left for
Presidency College, Calcutta for higher studies. Thereafter Bajrang Sahay went
to Benaras Hindu University to study Law. Bajrang Sahay was born in an ordinary
Kayastha family in Pachamba in Hazaribagh district (now Giridih). He
lost his father Munshi Budh Prakash Lal when he was just 16 years old and he
was thus burdened with the responsibility of the family. Despite all hardships,
he carried out the dual responsibility towards his family and towards his
nation successfully and effectively.
After completing Law, Bajrang Sahay settled
at Giridih and started practice in the Sub-Division Court at Giridih and the
District Court at Hazaribagh. Soon he became one of the leading legal practitioners
of the region. His success can be judged from the fact that he was gifted a
motorcar as fees by one of his clients the ‘mica king’ Chhatthuram of the
Chhatthuram Horilram & Company whose case he had successfully contested and
won. But Bajrang Babu was also active in the freedom struggle during this
period. In the Thirties, his increased political activities were noticed even by
the local administration. In his ‘Fortnightly Confidential Report’ addressed to
the Secretary, Home Department of the Government of India, the Chief Secretary,
Bihar, H. K. Briscoe reported that -‘it has been found necessary to
institute proceedings under Section 108 of the Criminal Procedure Code against
two more agitators in Hazaribagh- Bajrang Sahay, a former virulent non-cooperator
and Sukhlal Singh, brother of Ram Narayan Singh, M.L.A’.
In August 1940, a highly confidential
letter was dispatched by the Political Department of the Government of Bihar to
the Secretary of the Home Department of the Central Government which carried a district-wise list of such freedom fighters of the State who should be immediately
arrested on the call of any movement. The district wise list of such ‘A-Class' freedom fighters included the names of both Krishna Ballabh Sahay and Babu
Bajrang Sahay from Hazaribagh district. Therefore, when Mahatma Gandhi called
for the ‘Quit India Movement’ in 1942, both of them were arrested by the
Hazaribagh police and sent to jail. They were later shifted to the Bhagalpur
Jail.
In early 1946 it had become clear that
the transfer of power was just a matter of time. In March 1946 the Bihar
Governor Thomas George Rutherford formally invited Sri Krishna Sinha to form
the Government. Sri Krishna Sinha took the oath of office along with Anugrah
Narayan Sinha and Dr Syed Mahmud. To sabotage K. B. Sahay’s prospects of
joining Sri Babu’s Ministry as representative of Chhotanagpur region, his detractors’
chief among them Saraswati Devi, at the instance of other local leaders sent a
false telegram to Dr Rajendra Prasad requesting that Bajrang Sahay or someone
else other than Krishna Ballabh Sahay should be made a minister to represent
Chhotanagpur. The evil design was aimed to drive a wedge between K. B. Sahay
and Bajrang Sahay. When Babu Nawal Kishore Prasad, Pleader and Vice-President
of Bar Association informed Babu Bajrang Sahay about the developments, he got
infuriated. They immediately called on Saraswati Devi seeking an explanation
for dispatching a false telegram. She informed that she did this at the
instance of Nand Kishore Prasad. Incidentally, Nand Kishore Prasad was Nawal
Kishore Prasad’s bother. A peculiar situation had developed. Bajrang Sahay was deeply
hurt at this game of cross-blaming but he kept his cool and sat down to damage
control. He immediately sent a telegram to Dr Rajendra Prasad requesting him to
ignore the telegram sent by Saraswati Devi. He followed it up with a long letter
to Dr Rajendra Prasad in which he informed him of all the facts of the case and
strongly advocated the case of Krishna Ballabh Sahay, requesting him to
intervene and make him a Minister as the representative of Chhotanagpur. In
this letter dated 24th March 1946, he wrote, -‘This will show
how telegrams are being manufactured to spoil Krishna Ballabh Babu’s chances.
As far as I know, Krishna Ballabh Babu enjoys the confidence of the entire
population of this district. …..Since my retirement from the field, he is the
one person who has been keeping the Congress flag flying in the party and to
say that he does not belong to and cannot represent Hazaribagh is the height of
ingratitude. I respectfully suggest that false propaganda against K. B. Sahay
should not be permitted to stand in the way of justice being done to him and to
the district’.
This candid correspondence cleared the
deck for K. B. Sahay who was sworn in as Minister in Sri Krishna Sinha’s
Ministry a couple of days later. On becoming the Revenue Minister, K. B. Sahay
took up the task of piloting legislation to abolish zamindari and who else other
than Babu Bajrang Sahay could have been a better support to him. Babu Bajrang
Sahay devoted his whole time to drafting the legislation on Zamindari
Abolition. It is pertinent to mention here that Bihar took the lead in the
whole nation in this regard. The achievement of Bajrang Sahay and Krishna
Ballabh Sahay was acknowledged by Sadik Ali, Permanent Secretary, AICC who
noted that -‘Among the Revenue Ministers it was Krishna Ballabh Sahay who
almost immediately responded to the queries and wrote back in his letter dated
14th October 1946 to inform him that- ‘The Provincial
Government have not only drawn up a memorandum for Abolition of Zamindari
System but have also settled their details copy whereof I shall send you soon.’
K. B. Sahay in his letter dated 29th
October 1946 laid down the plans of the Provincial Government towards the abolition
of zamindari- ‘The plan for Abolition of Zamindari is under preparation.
The Government accepted a resolution to remove the intermediaries between the
State and the tiller of the soil’.
It may be pertinent to mention here that
while Bihar went ahead with the drafting of legislation to abolish zamindari;
other states had not even initiated the process. Central Province, Berar and
Madras informed that the Government was yet to decide on the matter while Morarji
Desai, as the revenue minister of Bombay, informed that he proposes to consult
scientific experts on the subject.
Later on, K B. Sahay also informed the
AICC that ‘the Bihar Government are thinking of introducing two Bills-
one to takeover private estates for management by the Government and second a
Bill for the abolition of zamindari’. The Publicity Officer, Government
of Bihar informed the AICC ‘that Sri Bajrang Sahay, a lawyer of
Hazaribagh, has been appointed a Special Officer to draft the Bill’.
The joint efforts of Bajrang Sahay and
K. B. Sahay sent cold shivers down the spine of Zamindars who sent a
bunch of complaints through Babu Ram Narayan Singh, the President of District
Congress to the President AICC Jiwatram Bhagwandas Kriplani seeking removal of
K. B. Sahay as Minister. Babu Ram Narayan Singh was brooding at his exclusion
from the Sri Krishna Sinha’s ministry and he thus became a convenient tool in
the hands of the opposing forces. Among the list of 21 complaints, it was also
alleged that K. B. Sahay was excessive supportive of Bajrang Sahay. They raked
up the issue of his appointment during the previous Congress rule (1937-1939)
to allege that the said appointment was made by flouting all rules and norms.
It was well known that K. B. Sahay had entrusted Bajrang Sahay with the
responsibility of drafting the said Bill on Zamindari Abolition. The zamindar
lobby felt that if somehow Bajrang Sahay could be removed from the
assignment, K. B. Sahay would be left handicapped in his endeavour.
In his reply dated 2nd July
1947, K. B. Sahay refuted all the charges and also invited Kriplani to carry
out a detailed investigation. He dared his detractors to either prove the
charges in the complaint or quit politics. He offered to quit politics if the
charges were proved against him. About seeking the services of Babu Bajrang
Sahay for drafting the Zamindari Abolition Bill, K. B. Sahay categorically
stated that-‘The twentieth allegation is that I appointed Babu Bajrang Sahay
as Government Pleader. Babu Bajrang Sahay was indeed appointed Government
Pleader during the 1937 Ministry. But the appointment was not made against the
rule, which does not require a minimum practice of 10 years. He was appointed
to draft Zamindari Abolition Bill with the full consent of the Ministries in a
meeting. His services have now been terminated as he was appointed for 6 months
only and no post of Additional Government Pleader for another 6 months has been
given to him’.
During his struggle with the zamindars,
Babu Bajrang Sahay stood like a rock behind Krishna Ballabh Babu. No amount of threats
by the zamindar lobby of any amount of litigations against him
personally or against his Government deterred K. B. Sahay, who had immense
faith in the capabilities of Bajrang Sahay. Bajrang Sahay was not merely a
friend for him but K. B. Sahay considered him a close family member just like an
elder brother. The presence of Bajrang Sahay gave K. B. Sahay the psychological
strength to not only face the threats of litigations from the zamindars
but even faced an attempt on his life courageously. The intellect of Bajrang
Sahay and Krishna Ballabh Sahay can be judged from the fact that this short and
crisp legislation, with merely 43 provisions covered in 8 chapters, which they
drafted for the abolition of zamindari, turned the wheels of the Central
Government and forced it to bring in the first amendment to the Indian
Constitution. Acknowledgement of the importance of the legislation is a tribute
to the genius of Babu Bajrang Sahay and Krishna Ballabbh Sahay. Their
achievement becomes larger than life if we consider the fact that they had a
very humble beginning as they came from simple peasantry families, faced all
sorts of hardships to build up their careers and then they sacrificed their
careers for the cause of freedom struggle to challenge a strong feudal society with
their sole weapon –the pen considered the weapon of the ‘Kayasthas.’ Their
life story is a fine example of how a common man can bring difference in the
society. It is time the nation acknowledges their contribution. Babu Bajrang
Sahay passed away on 18th December 1968. Thus ended a long
association of over fifty years (1918-1968) It was an irreparable loss for K.
B. Sahay for whom Bajrang Sahay was a friend, philosopher and guide. Their camaraderie
is still remembered in the Chhotanagpur region.
(Sources: (i) ‘Fortnightly Confidential Reports’ as archived in the National
Archives, New Delhi; (ii) Correspondences by Permanent Secretary, AICC with
Provincial Government, available in National Archives, New Delhi, (iii) Bihar
Assembly Debates (iv) ‘Addressing a Generation in Transition-
A Reading of Babu Braja Kishore Prasad’s Presidential Address Behari Students
Conference, Chhapra, 1911 (v) My
Reminiscences of Freedom Movement in Bihar by Bajrang Sahay)
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