Biography

Life & Career

The Honourable Justice Chanan Singh (1908–1977) was a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn and Chief Justice of the High Court of Kenya. The early years in the timeline below follow the February 2005 Ramgarhia community profile, with further detail from his autobiography and from the other sources named against each entry.

Timeline

1. Around 1892

   His grandfather, Sahib Ram, a carpenter, moved the family from Payal in Patiala State to Ikolaha, in the Ludhiana district.

   Autobiography, family papers

2. January 1908

   Chanan Singh was born in Ikolaha, District Ludhiana, to Smt. Jiwani. His school certificate recorded the date of birth as 18 January 1908. He was the third child of Daulat Ram and Jewni (or Jivani); the first two children had passed in infancy.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

3. Early education, from about 1915

   He received his primary education from Government High School Khanna. The family’s financial position was not good, so he discontinued his studies and helped his father in his work. Formal schooling ended after the eighth class, when his father was unable to support him at high school.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

4. 1921

   At the age of 13 he married Smt. Bhagwanti. The autobiography records the year as 1921 and names her Bhag Wanti (in later writing, Bhagwanti Singh), of Sihan Daud, a village near Malerkotla.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

5. 1923

   He went to Kenya, in East Africa. The autobiography adds that he travelled with a friend, intending to find a way to continue his studies and the means to pay for them.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

6. November 1923

   He started his career as a fitter on the railway. The autobiography records the appointment as locomotive fitter, Class “C”, at a salary of 120 shillings a month.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

7. From 1925

   While working as a fitter he joined correspondence classes. As he upgraded his qualifications he was shifted into the clerical department. In October 1925 he became a clerk, Grade “C”, at a salary of 120 shillings a month.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

8. January 1931

   Matriculation of the University of London, Class II.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

9. July 1935

   The Intermediate examination of the University of London, in Economics and Political Science.

   Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

10. 1937–1938

    He completed his transport education: the Graduateship examination of the Institute of Transport in 1937, and the Associateship Membership examination in 1938, Class II. He later became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport, and was also a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; Pheroze Nowrojee, “Chanan Singh – Freedom Fighter (1908–1977)”

11. June 1940

    B.Sc. (Economics), University of London, Second Class Honours, Lower Division.

    Autobiography, family papers; the degree is also recorded, without a date, in Ramgarhia, February 2005

12. 1942–1944

    In 1944 he completed his Bar at Law. The autobiography records Part One of the Bar examination in 1942, the Bar Final in 1943, and his call to the Bar in 1944 by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

13. 1945

    He was promoted as senior clerk, and became in charge of the railway transport department, the first Non-European to hold that post. Finding no further promotion there, he resigned from the railway service. The autobiography records that he left the railways in September 1945. This was after twenty-two years’ service. He had served as secretary and later president of the Asian Union of the railway; after leaving the service he became the Union’s legal adviser.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; Nowrojee, “Chanan Singh – Freedom Fighter (1908–1977)”

14. 1945

    After leaving the railway he started his own practice, and was enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Among the cases he later described were his appearances for the trade unionist Makhan Singh in immigration and related proceedings, including a habeas corpus application that succeeded and a later prosecution, heard before Mr Justice Thacker, that resulted in detention from 1950 to 1961. A Wikipedia article on Makhan Singh notes that Chanan Singh defended him at a trial in Nyeri and that he was acquitted. He also described an appeal for Senior Chief Koinange, the Sultan of Mukalla compensation appeal, which was taken to the Privy Council, and other civil and criminal matters. The 2000 Asian African Heritage exhibition, in a text by Pheroze Nowrojee, records that he was among advocates who “defended in hundreds of Mau Mau Causes and appeals.”

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; “Makhan Singh (trade unionist),” Wikipedia; Pheroze Nowrojee, text for “The Asian African Heritage: Identity and History,” National Museums of Kenya and Asian African Heritage Trust, 2000

15. 1947–1962

    He wrote editorials for the weekly Colonial Times, and was editor of Railasian, Sol and Forward. He also wrote for Amrit Bazar Patrika and The Hindu, presented papers at conferences, and wrote a short history of the Gandhi Memorial Academy Society and a biography of Manilal Ambalal Desai. He was a founder member and secretary of the Gandhi Memorial Academy Society, and sat on committees and the council of the University College, Nairobi.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers

16. 1952–1956

    He was a member of the Legislative Council of Kenya, elected, according to Nowrojee, for Nairobi Central. He was also president of the Indian Association of Nairobi for three terms, and general secretary of the Kenya Indian Congress for one term.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; Nowrojee, “Chanan Singh – Freedom Fighter (1908–1977)”

17. 1958–1959

    He was President of the Law Society of Kenya, serving for a year to 1959.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; “Law Society of Kenya,” Wikipedia; The Standard (Entertainment)

18. 1960–1961

    He left the Kenya Indian Congress with others and established the Kenya Freedom Party, of which he was elected president. The party stood for immediate independence for Kenya on the basis of one-man-one-vote, and in the 1961 elections it secured 50 percent of the Asian vote. He was re-elected to the Legislative Council that year. In May 1961 he chose to sit with KANU in opposition when a minority government formed by KADU was taking office.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; Nowrojee, “Chanan Singh – Freedom Fighter (1908–1977)”

19. 1962–1964

    He was Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs in 1962–1963, in the ministry headed by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. In 1963–1964 he was a Specially Elected Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. In September 1963 he was among the Kenya Government delegation at the Independence Conference in London, photographed with P. Ngei, S. O. Ayodo and L. G. Sagani.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005; autobiography, family papers; Central Office of Information photograph, “Kenya Independence Conference Opens in London,” September 1963, Cambridge University Library, GBR/0115/RCS/COI

20. April 1964

    He was offered and accepted appointment as a judge of the High Court of Kenya, and resigned from Parliament. His autobiography records the appointment in these words:

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

    The February 2005 Ramgarhia profile records that in 1964 he became “the Chief Judge of Kenya High Court” and left politics, and that he “had served as chief judge of Kenya High Court.” An article in The Standard later described him as “Kenya’s first Kalasinga Chief Justice,” after noting his year as president of the Law Society of Kenya to 1959. He remained in judicial office until he passed in 1977, having served as a judge for 13 years.

    Autobiography, family papers; Ramgarhia, February 2005; The Standard (Entertainment)

21. 1965–1966

    He was chairman of the Maize Enquiry Commission. A Report of the Maize Commission of Inquiry, dated 25 May 1966, is held by the library of the Kenya National Assembly and is catalogued under his name. As a judge he later described decisions concerning motor insurance and an authorized driver, a liquor licence refused on grounds of citizenship, petitions in Hindu marriage and divorce, and a claim for unlawful arrest and imprisonment. He also served on numerous government committees and boards, and had headed enquiry commissions.

    Autobiography, family papers; Report of the Maize Commission of Inquiry, 25 May 1966, Kenya National Assembly library; Ramgarhia, February 2005

22. 17 March 1967

    He was appointed a member of the Commission on the laws of succession, chaired by Humphrey Slade, M.P. The Commission was asked to consider the existing law of succession and to recommend a comprehensive and, so far as practicable, uniform code for Kenya. His autobiography also lists service on the Commission on the Law of Succession.

    Journal of African Law 11, no. 1 (Spring 1967): 1–2, citing Kenya Gazette Notice No. 1095 of 17 March 1967; autobiography, family papers

23. 1977

    He visited a daughter in Canada, where he passed from a heart attack. The exact calendar date has not been found in the sources used here. The Ramgarhia profile records that he established a library and donated it to the Government of Kenya, and that a road in Nairobi was named after him.

    Ramgarhia, February 2005

Family

He and Bhagwanti Singh had daughters Sushila, Vimala, Nirmala, Kamala, and Bala, and a son, Dushyant. Kamala passed in her early twenties. The autobiography gives a fuller account of the family on the Autobiography page.

A later Daily Nation DN2 feature by Emman Omari, “The forgotten Mashujaa of Kenya,” included him among figures the paper described as insufficiently remembered, and called him a Kenyan of Indian descent who fought for racial equality in the early 1950s.

Sources

1. Chanan Singh, untitled autobiography, family papers (Word document titled JUSTICE C. SINGH AUTOBIOGRAPHY.DOC), forwarded to the family in October 2014. A line at the end of the typescript is dated 22 November 1995–20 November 1996, which appears to be a transcription date.
2. Pheroze Nowrojee, “Chanan Singh – Freedom Fighter (1908–1977),” printed article (pages 18–21 of an unidentified periodical), preserved in the same family papers.
3. Emman Omari, “The forgotten Mashujaa of Kenya,” DN2 / Daily Nation, cover story, undated cutting in the family papers.
4. “Makhan Singh (trade unionist),” Wikipedia, retrieved 10 November 2026, for the note that Chanan Singh defended Makhan Singh at a trial in Nyeri.
5. Family memorial blog, “Justice Chanan Singh,” posts of 26–28 December 2014.
6. “Chanan Singh Hunjan (Ramgarhia Legend of the Month),” ramgarhiakom.com, February 2005, used here as the principal source for the early timeline, and for the record that he served as “chief judge of Kenya High Court.” The live page did not load in November 2026; a copy is in the Wayback Machine (13 February 2007). Also used for the account of when he passed, the library donation, and the Nairobi road.
7. “Why muhindi with kilemba and thick beard is called ‘Kalasinga’,” The Standard (Entertainment), which describes him as “Kenya’s first Kalasinga Chief Justice.”
8. “Law Society of Kenya,” Wikipedia, retrieved 10 November 2026, listing Justice Chanan Singh as president for 1958–1959.
9. Report of the Maize Commission of Inquiry, 25 May 1966, Kenya National Assembly library, catalogued under the subject Chanan Singh.
10. Pheroze Nowrojee, text for “The Asian African Heritage: Identity and History,” exhibition organised by the National Museums of Kenya and the Asian African Heritage Trust, 2000.
11. Central Office of Information, “Kenya Independence Conference Opens in London, 1963-09,” photograph catalogue, Cambridge University Library, GBR/0115/RCS/COI, describing a Kenya Government delegation including Mr. Chanan Singh.
12. “Commissions on the Laws of Marriage and Succession in Kenya,” Journal of African Law 11, no. 1 (Spring 1967): 1–2, doi:10.1017/S0021855300003557, listing “The Hon. Mr. Justice Chanan Singh” among members of the Commission on succession appointed on 17 March 1967 (Kenya Gazette Notice No. 1095).