He had often returned briefs of cases to which he thought he would not
be able to give proper attention. Legally he was not bound to return
the fees but moral scruples dictated him this course. For such acts of
honesty he was much respected by the litigants. Often he had taken up
the cases of the poor without charging them any fees and thereby
earned the lasting gratitude of his countrymen. It was for his honesty
and integrity apart from his legal acumen that the Government of India
selected Chitta Ranjan from among the leading counsels of India to
conduct the Munition Board case even when they knew him to be the
leader of the extremist party in Bengal. At first Chitta Ranjan
hesitated to represent the Crown and told the Government that unless
he was allowed to follow the dictates of his conscience to the best
interests of his country he would not accept the brief. When the
Government agreed in all these conditions he gave his consent to the
contract. The accused party knew that Chitta Ranjan had not yet
received brief for the Crown, they came to his house, placed before
him a cheque of several lacs and entreated him again and again to come
to their defence. But Chitta Ranjan, true to his words, said with a
smile, "Gentlemen, I am sorry I cannot comply with your request, when
I have once given the Government my words of consent, I am morally
bound to take up their case." The greedy merchants were taken aback at
such indifference to money and faithfulness to his promise; they could
not but admire this act of Chitta Ranjan, though they had to go away
disappointed.
Throughout his professional career he showed courage and independence.
We shall here cite an instance of his uprightness. In a case at
Noakhali one Mr. Cargil, the local magistrate, was an witness for the
Crown. He was given a special seat in the Court. Chitta Ranjan was on
the defence-side, his searching cross examinations annoyed Mr. Cargil
who in an insulting tone called him "Babu." Chitta Ranjan would not
tolerate this. He said with a retort "Mr. Cargil, you know that out
of courtesy I have allowed you a special seat instead of making you
stand in the witness box. I hope you will not fail to return the same
courtesy to others." Chitta Ranjan was not made of such stuff as to
bear any insult. Whenever there was any injustice done in a court, he
would protest against it fearlessly and if it was not rectified he
would leave the court unhesitatingly. It was for this reason that
Chitta Ranjan left the court in the Dacca Conspiracy case when in
spite of his protests the court was not just to his cause.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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