From the family papers

Autobiography

This is the full text of the autobiography preserved in the family Word document JUSTICE C. SINGH AUTOBIOGRAPHY.DOC. Spelling and wording follow the typescript. A closing line is dated 22 November 1995–20 November 1996, which appears to be when the document was typed. The last pages, after “Languages studied,” read as additional historical notes rather than as a continuation of the life narrative; they are included because they form part of the same document.

Ancestry

Sahib Ram, a carpenter by trade, was a resident of Payal in Patiala State in India. Anyone who has visited Payal must have seen the carved doors and windows and other fine woodwork of the last century. One can imagine the type of work that Sahib Ram was doing. The Muslim farmers of Ikolaha in the Ludhiana District in British India, 5 miles from Payal, were looking for a carpenter to do their work. They appear to have invited Sahib Ram to their village. Sahib Ram accepted their invitation and left for Ikolaha with his family. Compared to what was done in Payal, the work required by farmers in Ikolaha was rough but he decided to go, perhaps the trade was overcrowded in Payal.

This was around 1892 which is the date on title deeds for the land which he bought for the building of the workshop. It appears he had three sons and one daughter. The second son was Daulat Ram.

Daulat Ram might have been born in 1880. Around 1900, he married Jewni (or Jivani), the daughter of Muluka Ram of Gagda, a village five miles away. Chanan Singh was born to this couple in the first decade of twentieth century. He was the third child born to this couple, the first two having died in infancy. The school certificate of Chanan Singh shows his date of birth as 18.1.1908.

Education

Chanan Singh was admitted into the District Board Primary School in the village (Ikolaha) about the end of 1915. In the first quarter of 1916, he was promoted into the second class. In the beginning of 1919, he completed the fourth class and went to Public Anglo-Sanskrit High at Khanna. Just recently that school had lost the services of a well known Urdu-Persian teacher, Pandit Yog Raj 'Nazar' Schanavi. The favourable atmosphere for the study of reading and writing of Urdu poetry that he had created still existed. The teachers and senior pupils were talking about Yog Raj some of whose pupils were still studying in the school, but many had passed out. Yog Raj had learnt Urdu prosody from, and had completed his apprenticeship as a poet under, 'Hali' and was apparently very proud of it. People were talking about his correspondence with Mirza 'Yagana'in which Yog Raj had challenged his views about 'Ghalib' and 'Hali'. Otherwise, he had admiration for 'Yogana' as a master of prosody and used his book as a textbook for teaching prosody to his more enterprising pupils. Chanan Singh was influenced by this atmosphere, although he had no occasion to meet the creator of this.

He stayed two years in Khanna. Then, a middle school (Dharmic Anglo-Sanskrit Middle School) was opened in Ikolaha by the same person (Pandit Murli Dhar Vashisht) who has opened the P.A.S. school in Khanna before the First World War. At Ikolaha, he came in contact with two persons who had been pupils of Yog Raj 'Nazar' at Khanna. The elder one (Ruda Ram 'Sadiq') was teaching Urdu and Persian at Ikolaha and first introduced Chanan Singh to the principles of porosody and literary criticism. He did not merely explain the meanings of poems; he gave pupils the metre of poems and also a critical appreciation of the poems and the poets. This produced in Chanan Singh a real interest in Urdu poetry and in Urdu literature in general. He has retained that interest and continues to read Urdu books. But his other interests have prevented him spending time on writing of Urdu.

It was at Ikolaha also that he developed an interest in English. This he undoubtedly owes to Pandit Murli Dhar Vashisht whose knowledge of English grammar and idiom was superb. In his testimonial he gave to Chanan Singh at the time of leaving school, he said this: "I was proud of his knowledge of English when he was a student of the Third Middle Class".

At Ikolaha also, he started studying Sanskrit. Under the guidance, and with the special help, of his teachers (Pandit Dina Nath and Pandit Madhav Datta) he was able to caver a much wider field than was required by the syllabus. By the time he left school, he had studied parts of Panchtantra, the Meghaduta of Kalidas, and the Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi. In these extra-curricular studies, he was encouraged by Pandit Ravi Nandan, the Principal of the Sanskrit Pathshala at Khanna, who used to visit the Ikolaha school from time to time.

When Chanan Singh passed the Thilrd Middle ( or the eighth) Class, his father expressed inability to support him at High School. Therefore, his formal schooling came to an end.

In Kenya

In 1921, Chanan Singh was married to Bhag Wanti, daughter of his namesake, of Sihan Daud, a village near Malerkotla. Two years later, finding his way to further education blocked, he went to Kenya in the company of a friend who was going there. The intention was to find some way to further education and some means to pay for it.

Kenya is a beautiful country but it passing through a bad time so far as Indians were concerned. Employment was difficult to find. Indians on the Railways had just had their wages reduced by a sixth. And Railways were the biggest employer of Indians. Chanan Singh knew nobody. Every Indian in any position of influence cared for his own kith and kin. After waiting for a while, a kindly Indian offered to get Chanan Singh employment as a locomotive fitter in the Railways. Chanan Singh knew nothing about the work and had no interest in it. The kind-hearted stranger promised to make all arrangements to secure a filtter's job for him. Seeing no alternative, Chanan Singh agreed to take this job. The monthly salary was Sh 120/-. Even this job could be had only if the applicant could make a hexagonal iron nut. Chanan Singh did not know to handle a file. An old fitter produced a nut and Chanan Singh got the job.

Employment

November, 1923. Locomotive Fitter Class "C". Salary Sh 120/-.

Seven months later, he was given clerical work to do, but he remained an "artizan" in the books. He started applying for a clerk's job. It seemed this could not be secured without some influence. A dozen or so applications brought no result. Ultimately, a European Foreman arrived from West Africa. He was fond of Ommar Khayyam and Tagore. He happened to talk to Chanan Singh and finding him interested in literary matters wondered why he was an artizan. He spoke to the head of the Department and Chanan Singh achieved his immediate purpose.

October, 1925. Became Clerk Grade "C". Salary Sh 120/-.

Now he progressed quite rapidly within the scope allowed to Asians by Colonial policy. By the time he retired in September, 1945, he was "Senior Clerk, Special Grade" in charge of Rates work in the Transportation Department of the Railways.

September, 1945.

Left Railways having completed his education by studying privately after office hours. He was an Honours graduate of the University of London; a Barrister-of-Law; an Associate member of the Institute of Transport. British colonial did not allow the promotion of non-Europeans to senior ranks of service.

Further Education

January, 1931. Matriculation of the University of London in class II.

July, 1935. Intermediate Examination in Economics & Political Science, University of London

June, 1940. B. Sc. (Economics), London. Second Class Honours, Lower Division.

1937. Graduateship Examination of the Institute of Transport

1938. Associateship Membership Examination of the Institute of Transport in Class II.

Now, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport (F.C.I.T.)

1942. Part One of the Bar Examination.

1943. Bar Final.

1944. Called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn.

Employment after leaving the railways

1945. Enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

1958. President of the Law Society of Kenya.

1964. April. Was offered and accepted appointment as Judge of the High Court of Kenya and resigned from Parliament.

Public offices

1952-1956. Member of the Legislative Council of Kenya.

1961. Re-elected to the Legislative Council of Kenya.

1963-1964. Specially Elected Member of Parliament.

1962-1963. Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs in the Ministry headed by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. 1963-1964. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Mzee Jomo Kenyatta).

General Secretary, Kenya Indian Congress, for one term.

President, Indian Association of Nairobi, three terms.

1960. Left Kenya Indian Congress with others. Some left the Kenya Muslim League. All together formed the Kenya Freedom Party to make clear the stand of the Asian community. Some Europeans also joined. Chanan Singh was elected President of the Party. K.F.P. stood for immediate Independence for Kenya on the basis of one-man-one-vote. Party members contested elections on K.F.P. policy, in 1961, and secured 50% of the Asian vote.

Secretary of Railway Asian Union and later President for several years. After leaving the Railways, he remained associated with the Union as Legal Advisor.

Membership of Government Committees & Boards.

1944. Cost of Living Committee.

1946. Taxation Enquiry Committee.

Education Expenditure Committee.

Committee to Review Defence Regulations.

Social Security Committee.

Asian Civil Service Advisory Board (throughout its existence of 6 years).

Civil Service Committee (temporary member for a few months).

Labour Advisory Board.

Wages Advisory Board.

African Cash Wages Committee.

Commission on the Law of Succession.

Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy.

Chairman of Maize Enquiry Commission 1965-1966.

Note.-All these are past activities. He is no longer on any committees. Apart from Civil Service Commission, which continues to function, other bodies were appointed for a purpose, and ceased when the purpose was fulfilled.

Literary activities

Editor, Railasian (no longer exists) Editor, Sol (no longer exists)

Wrote Editorials and editorial Notes of the weekly Colonial Times 1947-1962 (ceased publication 1962)

Editor, Forward (ceased publication 1947).

Wrote special articles for thr Amrit Bazaar Patrika and the Hindu for one year.

Has contributed articles to legal journals.

Has presented papers at international legal conferences.

Has contributed papers to Annual Conferences of Kenya Historical Association.

Contributed biography of "Manilal Ambalal Desai" to Kenya Historical Biographies.

Wrote Indian Case against the Immigration Bill. The Gandhi Memorial Academy Society - A Short History.

Other activities

Was Secretary of the Ghandi Memorial Academy Society for some years and, in that capacity, was a member of the General Purposes Committee and the Appointments Committee of the University College, Nairobi. also sat on the University College Council.

Religious and other views

Parents were generally of orthodox Hindu (Sanatanist) views. Visited the shrine 'Naina Devi' with parents every year for many years. The P.A.S. school, Khanna, which he joined in 1919 was not at that time an Arya School but many of the teachers were of Arya Samaj views. Chanan Singh stopped going to Naina Devi when he went to Khanna. Again the Sandhya taught at Khanna was the Arya Samaj Sandhya. Some of the religious instruction books, although not sectratian in outlook, followed the Arya Samaj teachings.

When Chanan Singh came to Kenya in 1923, he had a vague Arya Samaj background. The people with whom he mixed in Nairobi were, by and large, Arya Samajist. He became a 'smphathiser' member of Arya Samaj.

This connection was broken when he was transferred to Eldoret at the end of 1925.

In 1926, he was transferred to Nakuru. When Arya Samaj was started there in around 1928, Chanan Singh became the first Secretary. This renewed interest was not to last long.

In 1930 or 1931, he went to Nairobi for a short visit and happened to attend a public auction. There he bought a bundle of books. These books were published by the Rationalist Press Association of England. Chanan Singh eagerly read through them. Bradlaugh's book Humanity's Gain from Unbelief specially appealed to him. There was no longer any need to remain attached to the AreyaSamaj which had served as a step forward from orthodox Hinduism. There was need for the next step now. He joined the Rationalist Press Association as a regular member and started getting their journal and other publications. The Arya Samaj now seemed out of date. From now on Chanan Singh did not, and could not consistently with his changed views, take part in any sectional or sectarian religion. The Vedas ceased to have the same significance for him as in the past. God was irrelevant to the practical problems of life. Rationalism provided the key to the intellectual and practical problems of mankind.

Chanan Singh felt strengthened in his new views when he studied Logic for his Intermediate Examination and, later, when he studied Scientific Method for his degree examination. Studies in Economics and Political Science led to the same conclusion.

In the sixties, he started reading books written by modern Indian authors and by European authors on the literature of the ancient Hindus. It was a pleasant surprise to him to find that the Rishis of olden days were not hide-bound in their views. They were free and frank and frequently expressed views similar to those held by Chanan Singh since the thirties. He has recently given more and more time to the study of ancient literature. He enjoys this, but has not felt the need to abandon any part of his rationalism.

Some of Chanan Singh’s court cases

Cases fought as an advocate

Makhan Singh cases. Makhan Singh was a trade unionist but he was a Communist and that is what seems to have brought him into trouble. The Government wanted to throw him out of Kenya. He was born in a village near Gunjranwala. His father migrated to Kenya in 1920. Makhan Singh, when in his early teens, joined his parents in Nairobi in 1927. In 1934, he passed his London Matriculation from Government School, Nairobi, and at once started taking part in trade unions. In 1939, after the war had broken out, he went to India and was interned in the village. He was released from restriction when Russia joined the War, making it a 'people's war'.

In 1947, his father obtained an entry permit for Makhan Singh from the Government of Kenya. This was issued by mistake because the Governor in Council had already declared him an undesirable" person whose immigration was prohibited. Makhan Singh landed in Kenya and reached Nairobi before the authorities found out the mistake. They ordered his deportation. Makhan Singh engaged Chanan Singh.

An application for the prerogative writ certiorari was made challenging the legality of the Government's order. This failed.

The Government renewed the order of deportation. Makhan Singh was taken into custody with a view to being sent by train to Mombasa and thence by ship to India. He was to be sent away in the evening of the day on which Chanan Singh was notified. He applied for the writ of Habeas Corpus. When the matter came into court, Chanan Singh argued that when the law prohibited was "immigration" into the country but that Makhan Singh was not immigrating ( i.e. coming into the country for the purpose of settlement): he was coming back home. This argument was accepted and Makhan Singh was a free man.

Later, an application for the writ of Mandamus was made seeking an order that the Principal Immigration Officer issue him with a Certificate of Permanent Residence. This did not succeed. Makhan Singh remained a free man.

Government had passed a new law authorizing the detention of immigrant British subjects. Makhan was prosecuted under that law and the case lasted five days. The trial took place in a small towm 100 miles north of Nairobi before a visiting Judge, Mr Justice Thacker (who was later to try Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and his associates). This time the Government succeeded. They could not send him out of the country. But now Makhan Singh was ordered to be detained. He was in detention from 1950 to 1961. He came out and planned a two volume history of the trade union movement in Kenya. The first volume was published. The second one was nearly complete when Makhan Singh died of a heart attack.

Another Immigration case During the second World War, certain regulations were passed by the Kenya Government under the Defence Regulations which prevented entry into Kenya without a permit and to do a specified work with a specified employer. A young Indian came in as an artisan to work for a particular contractor. He was an educated man but came to work as a carpenter because no permits were issued for clerical work. After he War, a new Immigration law was passed and war-time regulations lapsed. This man was found working with a bank as a clerk. He was prosecuted for contravening the war-time regulations. He was defended by Chanan Singh who argued that the power to punish for infringements of old regulations died with them. He quoted decided cases arising from laws passed during the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century and laws passed during the First World War. When a permanent law is repealed, the infringement of it can be punished after the repeal under the general law of the country. But a law that expires by the effluxion of time leaves nothing behind. At the end of the argument the Magistrate remarked: "This has been a veritable law lecture".The man was aquitted.

Sultan of Mukalla case. In the sixties of the nineteenth century, an enterprising Arab left Hyderabad - a large number of Arabs was settled there by encouragement of the Nizam- and went to Arabia in search of a fortune. Within a short time, he was able to by fighting to create a kingdom for himself with capital at Mukalla. Now, his brothers in Hyderabad got jealous. They instigated the Viceroy by telling him that their brother in Mukalla was indulging in slave trade. The Viceroy ordered the replacement of the Sultan by one of the disgruntled brothers. The proverbial "gunboat diplomacy" was used. The warship stood in the harbour. The Sultan was ordered to get into it and his brother was installed in his place. This was around 1890. the question of compensation of the displaced Sultan arose. After all, he had a lot of property in Mukalla. A kadhi was appointed 'mansab' (arbitrator) to assess compensation. He assessed it at Rh 214,000 or thereabouts. The displaced Sultan regarded the amount utterly inadequate and refused to take it. Nevertheless, the new Sultan paid the compensation to the British Resident in Aden as representative of the Viceroy. The amount was transferred to the Bombay Government and was invested by it.

The ex-Sultan and his generation died without claiming the money. The next generation also died. Then the heirs of ex-Sultan fell on bad days and they needed the money. They showed willingness to take it in 1942. The two lakhs had by now grown to ten lakhs. But the reigning Sultan objected saying that the money was held by the government of Bombay in trust for him. The government of Aden passed a special law authorizing the reference of the matter to the High Court of Aden to determine who was the owner of the money.

The Aden High Court heard and decided the case. The decision was not acceptable to the claimants. The number of parties to the case was twenty. They wanted to appeal. Some delay was caused by the fact that appeals from AEden instead of going to the Bombay High Court were now to go to the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa. Chanan Singh was retained by a firm of advocated in Aden. Two other Aden Advocates came to Nairobi. J. M. Nazreth, Q.C., and Nawab Akbar Ali Khan of Hyberabad and one of the Aden Advocates appeared for the reigning Sultan. Arguments lasted six days. Chanan Singh's argument was that reigning Sultan having accepted the mansab's award in 1902 and having paid the money due under it, no longer had any claim to the money; whoever held the money held it in trust for the ex-Sultan and his heirs. Whether he or his heirs then accepted the award or accepted it later made no difference to the position. The Sultan had accepted the award, had taken over the properties, and had paid out the amount of the award, and he and his heirs at least could not be heard to argue that the money was not held in trust for the beneficiaries under the award.

The East African Court acccepted the argument partly. Its decision was that money was held in trust for the reigning Sultan up to 1942 and that from 1942 onwards it was held in trust for the claimants. This meant that all interest earned between 1902 and 1942 went to the Sultan and the claimants got the original capital plus the interest earned from 1942 onwards. It was now 1956 and the fund had grown to 15 lakhs.

The claimants appealed to the Privy Council which decided without hesitation that from 1902 onwards the amount of the award plus all the interest earned was held in trust for the ex-Sultan and his heirs.

Chief Koinange's case. The value of coffee as a crop was realized from very early days in Kenya. It was more or less a monopoly of the European farmers. They argued that the crop was susceptible to disease which could spread from farm to farm. Europeans were educated farmers and had learnt to control disease at great expense. They were very anxious that the right to grow coffee should not be allowed indiscriminately to Africans. With the Africans, this had become an emotional issue. They thought they were being discriminated against as a race. About 1950, ex-Senior Chief Koinange was prosecuted for growing coffee on his farm. Somebody must have advised him that he had no defence to the charge. Therefore, the old man pleaded guilty and was fined Sh 100. He personally never accepted this as justice and saw Chanan Singh through a common Indian friend. The old Chief told the story to Chanan Singh. He grew coffee first in 1921. This was uprooted by the Government. He grew coffee again in 1928. This was also uprooted. Now, his third attempt had also failed. He was convinced that the Africans were being unfairly treated in this matter. Chanan Singh gave it as his opinion - after thinking overnight - that it was worthwhile appealing against the decision. Chief Koinange instructed Chanana Singh to go ahead.

There were two obstacles to overcome. A person who had pleaded guilty to a criminal charge could not appeal. Nor could a person who - even though he did not plead guilty - had been fined Sh 100 or less. In the High Court, Chanan Singh argued that his client had pleaded guilty to a charge and had been fined under a law which was no law at all. Therefore, the two bars against appealing would be of no consequence if the Court ultimately accepted his view that the law itself was ultra vires the Governor in Council who had purported to make it. His main argument was this. The Governor in Council had made a regulation under the law which had aimed at improving the quality of crops and livestock. The Governor in Council had gone beyond its rule-making power by making the following regulation:-

"No African shall grow coffee without a licence in the following areas............."

The areas were all occupied by Africans. In fact this was a regulation aimed at preventing Africans from growing coffee. This was not one of the objects of the ordinance under which the regulation had been made. No such requirement of a licence existed for European farmers. The administrations in colonies had been set up by the King under His prerogative powers and powers given to Him by law. All the legal instruments ( Orders in Council and Letters Patent ) left no doubt in any one's mind that the Government of Kenya and the Kenya Legislature had not been given powers to discriminate against racial groups. In fact, one of the instructions to the Governor was that he must reserve for the King's pleasure any law made locally which did not subject Europeans to the disabilities to which non-Europeans were subjected.

The argument lasted two days. Chief Koinange won. He was tremendously pleased.

The Government did not take the defeat in a sportsman like spirit. It immediately changed the word "African" in the rule to read "person". In practice, however, the Government became more and more liberal in issuing licences. Be that as it may, Africans regarded the case as a blow against race-discrimination.

Railway children's case. During 18 or 19 years' life at the Bar, an advocate fights an enormous number of cases. A small selection has been given above. A case may now be described which shows the difficulties ordinary people have to face when fighting cases against the Police. Four or five children of railway guards and drivers were brought to court, charged with stealing empty bullet cases. A local firm was buying spent bullets from the military. These were small shining brass cartridge cases left lying after the bullets had been fired, mainly from pistols. This firm owned a scrap yard in the railway quarters area. Railway trucks containing bags of these little things were brought to this yard. Large numbers of them fell from torn bags on the railway line. Large numbers, again, slipped through the fence and fell in the drain next to it. Children of railway staff were in the habit of playing there. These shiny brass things children always like. They used to pick up handfuls of them from the drain and from the railway line nearby. The scrap yard was served by a siding which was not very much used, so that the children had nothing to fear by playing there. Police once saw these children carrying handfuls of empty bullet cases and charged them with theft from the scrap yard. The allegation was that children took handfuls of these things from the bags by passing their hands through the space between the ground and the iron fence.

The children and their parents were very upset. The children ( all 13 or 14 years old ) insisted that the Police story was a lie and that they had never been near the fence but had picked up the shining little things from the railway line and from the drain between it and the fence. The most damaging witness, so far as defence was concerned, was a European Assistant Superintendent of Police who stated that there were no empty cartridge cases lying about and that the boys must have stolen them from the bags lying inside the scrap yard against the fence. The boys were emphatic that this gentleman was not telling the truth. Chanan Singh asked him when he had visited this area last. His reply was "this morning". There was every risk now that the boys would be held guilty and ordered to be flogged. The most lenient treatment one could expect was a sentence of fine.

Chanan Singh decided not to go for lunch that day. He had no car yet. Therefore, he walked to the area during the lunch hour. He was pleased to see that his young clients were truthful. When the court assembled in the afternoon, Chanan Singh made an application that the court visit the scene. The old Magistrate - he had done his full service as a District Commissioner and was now a temporary Magistrate - could not see the point of the application when such a senior officer as A. S. P. so and so had given definite evidence. The Magistrate stated that he did not at the moment see what purpose a visit to the scene could serve but he promised to consider the application if it was repeated when court rose towards the end of the day. When the court was about to rise, Chanan Singh repeated the application saying that a visit to the scene was neededd in the interest of justice. The application was granted. The Court travelled to the scene and the Magistrate was terribly angry when he himself picked up a handful of little brass things from the railway line and saw large numbers lying in the drain. He said that he could never imagine that a senior police officer would tell a lie in such a matter. He announced at the scene that the boys could consider themselves acquitted and that he would give formal judgement the following morning.

Cases decided as a judge

Motor Car Insurance - Authorised Driver. A car owner insured his car for the usual traffic risks. The insurance company undertook to indemnify the 'insured' himself and his 'authorised driver'. The owner lent his car to his brother-in-law for a journey. The brother-in-law, while driving the car, was involved in an accident in which a third party was injured. The third party sued the brother-in-law. The insurance company was notified as required by the terms of the policy, but they denied liability because they had no contract with the brother-in-law ( who was the 'authorized driver' ). They contended that the contract was between the company and the insured and that they were not liable because their insured had incurred no liability.

The brother-in-law fought the case in the court but lost a decree for damages was made against him.

Now, the 'insured' ( i.e. the owner of the car) and his 'authorized driver' (i.e. the brother-in-law) together brought a suit against the insurance company for the recovery of the damages awarded against the latter. The insurance company filed a defence denying liability on the basis of the well known principle of the law of contract that only a party to a contract could sue on a contract or could claim an advantage under the contract.

At the end of the trial, Chanan Singh decided that the case had been brought jointly by the insured and the authorized driver, and that the insurance company's argument was not relevant. The evidence had established that the insurance policy in favour of the insured alone would have been cheaper and that the premium actually paid had included a figure for the authorized driver. The question whether the authorized driver alone could sue the insurance company did not arise for consideration. The contract was between the insured and the company and the insured (who paid the premium) could certainly sue. The suit had, therefore, been properly brought. It was true that the insured had suffered no loss but he could receive the damages in trust for the authorised driver who was covered by the terms of the policy. Chanan Singh, therefore, gave judgement in favour of the insured as trustee for the authorised driver.

This was the first case on this point in East Africa. Even in England this point was not decided until a few years later.

Liquor Licence for a non-citizen. A Goan who was not a citizen of Kenya was running a bar at a small place near Kisumu. The area licensing Board refused to renew his licence on grounds that he was not a Citizen. He appealed to the High Court. Chanan Singh examined the law applicable to this matter and came to the conclusion that there were several grounds on which a licence could be refused or withdrawn. These related to the personal character of the licensee or the needs of the area. Possession or non-possession of Citizenship was not in law a ground for the issue or renewal of a liquor licence. The appeal was allowed and a licence granted.

Hindu Marriage. A Hindu husband petitioned the High Court for a decree of nullity on the grounds that his wife had refused to consummate the marriage. Wife and husband were examined by doctors who certified that the husband was potent and the wife a virgin. Evidence showed that there were grounds for the failure of the marriage. It seemed the wife had at first shown reluctance to do her duty, but later she sent several deputations to the husband's side asking to be allowed to resume married life. The husband had wrong ideas about his rights. He thought the refusal of the wife to consummate the marriage even on the first day was a good ground for a decree of nullity. The wife, on the other hand, showed willingness to come back up to the end of the trial. The husband's side was adamant, believing the law was on their side. Chanan Singh decided that, in order to succeed in a petition for nullity on the ground of refusal to consummate, the petitioner must show that the refusal was still continuing. He dismissed the petition.

Hindu Divorce. A Hindu wife petitioned for divorce on the statutory ground that she and her husband had been separated for two years. It appeared at the trial that the separation had originated from a non-cohabitation order made by a magistrate by the consent of the parties. Chanan Singh, while expressing sympathy for the wife, dismissed the petition because the granting of it would be tantamount to allowing divorce by consent on which the law frowned. A decree of separation to qualify a party for divorce should have been made by a court on merits and not with the consent of parties.

Unlawful Arrest and Imprisonment. An African ordered a suit of clothes from an Indian tailor. On the same day, another African came to the same shop and ordered a suit of the same cloth but of a slightly different colour. A year later, one of them lost his coat by theft. He was absent from the house and somebody stole a lot of his clothes including this coat at night. Another year went by and the stolen coat was not recovered. Then one day, by chance, the gentleman who had lost his coat saw another African wearing what he thought was his coat. He immediately reported to the Police. The Police and he identified the coat as his. He was sure that it was his stolen coat because it was made of the same cloth and had the tailor's label on the inside pocket. The Police Inspector also believed that it was the stolen coat because the complainant seemed so self-assured. The person who was caught with the coat protested that the accusation was false, and that the coat was his. He tried to tell the Police the name of the shop from which he had bought the coat and a pair of trousers. But there was no inclination to believe him because he was at that time wearing only the coat and only the coat had been stolen from the complainant a year earlier.

The suspect was taken to the Police Station and was, as usual, made to take off his shoes, tie, spectacles, and belt and put in the cell. The following day the Police went to the shop from which the complainant had bought his suit. They took the complainant and the suspect with them to the shop. The Indian shopkeeper immediately showed the Police his order book containing two orders for the same type of suit, one by the complainant and the other by the suspect. The two gentlemen had ordered the same type of suit from the same shop on the same day. The Police released the suspect from custody. He had now been in custody for twenty-four hours. He was an educated man in regular employment and owning a motor car.

He sued both the complainant and the Police for damages. Chanan Singh dismissed the case against the complainant because he had reported the matter to the Police honestly believing the coat was his. The arrest and the detention were the responsibility of the Police. The Police Inspector who made the arrest also acted under an honest and reasonable belief that an arrestable offence had been committed. But the Police had no reason or justification for keeping him in the cells for such a long period. They should have listened to the explanation of the suspect and tried to verify his story immediately. If this was not possible, they should have released him on his own bond. He was an educated man, in regular employment, and owning a car. The Police was ordered to pay him Sh 5000/- as damages.

Family

Has one brother and two sisters who live in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, with their families. Eldest daughter Sushila is married to Surrendra Nath. They live in Canada with their two children. Sushila did B.A. Honours in English Language and Literature from Loreto House in Calcutta.

Second daughter Vimala is married to Avtar Singh Chaudhry. She did B.A. Honours in English Language and Literature from Loreto House in Calcutta. She is headmistress of the Ngara Secondary School in Nairobi, Kenya. Their four children are in Nairobi.

Third daughter Nirmala is married to Ramesh Chander Bedi. They have two children. They live in Nairobi.

Son Dushyant is married to Sudarshana and they live in Nairobi with their three children. Dushyant took a B.A. Special degree in Economics and Philosophy from Bristol University and is now Chief Statistician to the East African Community at Nairobi.

Fifth child is Shakuntala. She is married to Joginder Pal Bhangu. They live in Regina, Canada, with their two children. She was educated in Nairobi and her marriage also took place in Nairobi. She migrated to Canada with her husband some years ago and has visited the family once in Kenya. She also came over to London at the end of 1974 when Mr & Mrs Chanan Singh were on holidays there.

The family also remember a daughter, Kamala, who died in her early twenties.

Countries visited

India- 7 times since migration in 1923.

Sri Lanka, Great Britain (several times), Aden, Canada.

Languages studied

Urdu, Hindi, English, Sanskrit at school in India.

Persian at Matriculation of London University.

French and German - for the translation paper at B.Sc.. (Econ.), London University.

Mother tongue: Punjabi.

Lingua franca of East Africa: Kiswahili.

Additional historical notes in the same document

The leaders of the European community had also been claiming the right to advance towards the goal which the self-governing Dominions had already reached. The Economics Commission's Report published in 1919 pressed for further steps to responsible government. Since the report had been signed by five settlers and two officials - all seven being Europeans - it was an indication that there was no essential difference between the European settlers and the general run of officials. Mr Winston Churchill's after dinner speach of January, 1922, also invisaged for Kenyaf the status of a "characteristically and distinctively British colony" looking in due course to "complete self-government". apart from any question of formal constitutional reforms, which both the Economic Commission and Mr Churchill had in mind, the European influence and voice in the running of the government had been gradually increasing. During the First World War, a War Council had been created which included unofficial European representatives - but no non-Europeans- and which had functioned more or less as a Council of ministers taking decisions in important matters of government policy. In the beginning of 1922 was appointed the Economic and Finance Committee ( popularly known as the Bowring Commission after the name of its chairman). Bowring was the chief secretary of the Government and had over years been a great champion of settler cause. The Committee was composed of two officials, five European settlers and one Indian. It started holding daily meetings and created the impression that the settlers had a hand in running the government from day to day. This was the Committee that killed the Income Tax Legislation against which the settlers had vainly fought up to now.

“Paramount power in an African country" Nevertheless, the policy of the Kenya Government remained unchanged. It was stated in an offical communications in 1919 as follows: "...though Indian interests should not be lost sight of, European interests must be paramount throughout the Protectorate."

Matters were now coming to a head. The European politicians had now started saying that interests of the Indians conflicted with those of the Africans and that therefore the former ought to be kept in check. Indians readily took up the gauntlet. Mr M. A. Desai was reported as saying at the 1921 Conference: If any European or Indians werte to say that they were in the country for the benefit of the natives, he would emphatically deny the statement. The business of the Government in this country was to protect the natives. The Europeans and Indians had come here to make money and he challenged anyone to dispute his statement." Another version that has been current in political circles is that the Indian stand at this Conference was that "both Europeans and Indians were interlopers" in Kenya.1

The question of African representation on the Legislative Council had received even less attention that of Indian representation. Lord Delamare's views in 1913 were : " Natives and Asiatics being subject peoples are represented by official members on the Council".2 As I have tried to show, these views prevailed for some time but had already become unacceptable in relations to Asians by 1919. The Royal Instructions of the 4th September, 1919, provided for two "nominated" Indian Unofficial Members and one Nominated representative of Arab interests. No consideration has been given to the representationof Africans.The first practical proposal emanated from Christian missionaries on 1919 suggesting that they should represent African interests. This proposal was repeated in 1921. This was the time when Africans themselves became politically active. It was a pity that the missionaries, instead of forwarding theiw own claims to speak on behalf of Africans, did not suggest that Africans should have their own representation. It is true that European leadership of those days would not have supported a proposal like that but it would have shown that missionaries had a genuine interest in the advancement of Africans in the political field. Indians got representation, inadequate though it was, because they fought for it. There is no reason why the African community would not have gained some representation for themselves if missionaries had shown fight. It was a political matter but so was the representation of Africans by missionaries. As it happened, the intervention on the missionaries delayed African representation by over twenty years.

The matters I have so far discussed concerned all three races. The European leaders appeared to be winning on the whole because their point of view was generally always accepted. The Indians were opposing the European advance, but whatever they achieved benewfited them immediately and benefited Africans in the long run. The Europeans did not want to give in because as one European paper put it, "what the Indian demands today may be demanded by the educated native class tomorrow". I now wish to describe briefly the positiion in relation to a mattter which involved the self interest of both Europeans and Indians. Africans were mentioned during controversy by both sides only to camouflage the real issue. In the early years of the twentieth century, the European leadership saw in the continued immigration of Indians a challenge to the dreams of a white Dominion. They started agitating for the stoppage or at least control of the immigration of Indians. The argument was that only one civilization could be allowed to dominate in Kenya. It could not be the Indian civilization because the responsibility for the adminiatration of the country lay with a white nation, the British. The African civilization could not be exposed to a civilization which was alien to the ruling nation. Again, it was argued the Indian competed with the African in earning a livelihood as an artisan or as a clerk; and that, therefore, his immigration was detrimental to the African interest.

The Indian case was based on the fact that every effort was being made by the Government and the unofficial European community to bring on more European settlers and that Indians being British subjects had as much right to migrate to a British territory as the people of the United Kingdom itself. The Indians also argued that the Africans stood to gain more by their presence than by the presence of the Europeans. The social difference between Indian and Africans was smaller than between Europeans and Africans and that, for this reason, it was easier for Indian than for European to teach Africans the modern skills. The Indians denied that there was any conflict between their and African interests. The controversy was laid to reat rest for a while by the ruling of Lord Milner through the white paper dated the 21st May, 1921: "I could not countenance any restrictions which could place natives of India at a disadvantage as compared with other immigrants.........there must be no bar to the immigration of Indians.Hindi also suffered. The Gujaratis Hindus were not prepared to support any Indian language but Gujrati. They were not prepared to allow any part of their funds to be used for the purchase of Hindu religious books in Hindi, let alone general literature in Hindi.

This darkening atmosphere affected only the Punjbi section of membership - Gujaratis, being content with their own mpther tongue, remained aloof. The most senseless part of the quarrel was that Punjabis ( Hindu, Muslims and Sikhs ) all spoke the same language, Punjabi in the home. And that generation of the Punjabis had been taught - i.e.those who were educated - through the medium of Urdu, although most Sikhs knew Punjabi writing and many Hindus knew Hindi also. The actual conditions remained tolerable because the real bigots remained behind the scenes and were never allowed a hand in the management of the library. The representatives elected to look after Hindi always spent part of the funds on Urdu books and papers, although to quieten the dismal characters they saw to it that these Urdu publications were either books written by Hindu authors or papers and magazines edited by Hindus. The Gurmukhi section adopted a similar policy.

Throughout this period, the number of Muslim members was small, and on the occasion of annual elections the bigots were always active. They themselves were few in number but were organized for mischief. They met secretly and started a whispering campgain in favour of noe or two particular Muslims saying that those were the only ones deserving to be on the Committee as they were loyal to he Institute, and that no votes should be given to any other Muslims. That will explain why the Committee each year contained only one or two of a small group of Muslims. No other Muslims received support.

I hope readers will not understand this to mean that communalism was rampant among non-Muslims and that Muslims were free from it. The position is that, in spite of he existence of the Sikh Union, the Patel Club, the Indian Christian Union, and the Kathiawad Club, the Railway Indian Institute had been able to attract a fair portion of Sikhs, Patels, and Kathiawadis who took active interest in and gave their first loyalty to the Institute. They discontinued subscribing to a particular paper which showed more open communal bias. This was attempted once or twice but was not easy. A daily published from Lahore included the word 'Muslim' in its name. It was professedly a political paper supporting the claims of Moslims in India. A suggestion was made by somebody thaat subscription on this paper be no longer debited to the general funds but that Musllim members, if they so wished, be free to subscribe to it from funds allocated to the Urdu language. this was stoutly resisted and a counter measure a muslim member proposed that the Tribune of Lahore be also not be subscribed to from general funds. The Gujarati members of the committee regarded this as a Punjabi quarrel and decided to remain neutral. The sikh members thought this was a Hindu-Muslim squabble having nothing to do with them. In the result, the Punjabi Hindus were left to fight the issue out with the Punjabi Muslims. There was an alternative to continuing to subscribe to both papers from general funds.

Autobiography of Mr. Chanan Singh 11/22/95 – 11/20/96