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The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
From street name to gobbledygook
The street sign says it all – Yahali 3rd Street. There are three of them, all connecting Anna Salai with GN Chetty Road, at Teynampet, very close to Semmozhi Poonga. Only Yahali is not the correct name. Google maps has compounded matters further. You need to search under Yaya Hali Street if you need to find it. The correct name is Yahya Ali Streets – 1, 2 and 3, and they take their names from Justice Yahya Ali of the High Court of Madras. The learned judge is not in public memory. When I spoke to a friend on this, he said that the Internet has no reference to such a judge, and I guess that would mean such a person did not exist. But he did. And when he died as a sitting judge in 1949, the High Court convened to condole his passing. The brilliant barrister and then Public Prosecutor V.L. Ethiraj led the mourners. He dwelt on the 'keen intellect, great learning, profound human understanding and exquisite courtesy we found in that frail figure.' But to get full biographical details we need to turn to the speech of an illustrious contemporary, V.C. Gopalaratnam who spoke on behalf of the Madras Advocates Association. Yahya Ali was born in August 1893 in Nellore, his father serving as Assistant Secretary in the Finance Department of the Nizams of Hyderabad. He graduated in History and Economics from the Presidency College in 1916 and then qualified in Law. He set up practice in Nellore and became Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor. He was a member of the Madras Legislative Council as well. In between he became Chairman of Nellore Municipality, his election being testimony to the regard he enjoyed from all residents of the town. It was a place notorious for communal tension and being a Hindu majority, it was considered impossible for a Muslim to win the ballot. In 1926, Yahya Ali became District Judge, being posted in that capacity to various parts of Madras Presidency. His specialisation in matters concerning finance led to his being appointed by the then Imperial Government in 1942 as the Chairman of the Appellate Income Tax Tribunal where he equipped himself 'with a thorough and exhaustive knowledge of Income Tax Law and Procedure.' In 1945 he became a judge of the High Court of Madras. It is interesting to note that he sat in judgement till the last day of his life, taking ill on April 21, 1949, and passing away the next day. While these details are from Gopalaratnam's speech during the condolence meet, we learn some more from what the then Chief Justice had to say. Yahya Ali he noted, was a connoisseur of Telugu poetry and 'he was a deeply cultured person- culture with the best ingredients of what I may call Moghul culture – urbanity, catholicity and instinctive love of all that was beautiful.' What was his link to Teynampet? He was at the time of his death Mutawalli (trustee or guardian) of the Teynampet Mosque in which his family had taken a deep interest. It was also in the precincts of this mosque that Yahya Ali was buried. And eventually a locality was named after him. And from there, the name has morphed phonetically as it were, to what it is now with street names changing accordingly. I wish the Corporation would be more careful with street signs. We have suffered enough mutilation with truncation of many names to initials, morphing of others, and of course, name changes at the drop of a hat.
New Indian Express
11-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Who Is Equal: The Equality Code of the Constitution
It has become common for people to ask, 'Where is inequality?' While a visible section of the society seems to believe that we have miraculously become an equal society, one keeps wondering whether talking about the quest for equality is a thing of the past. Senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal in Who is Equal? has tried to refocus on the diverse realities that exist in our country with intersections of different identities and what the constitution promises the citizens of India. Saurabh starts by clearing certain basics for the reader by posing questions like the importance of equality and what exactly do we want to be equal to? Subsequently, in the following chapters, the author goes onto the different dimensions of equality and how it manifests in different fields like education, employment, business, marriage, etc. He goes on to mention how the process of attaining equality needs to carry the contextual realities of the society. Mentioning the famous case from Madras where caste-based reservations existed before the independence of India but were struck down soon after the promulgation of the Constitution by the High Court of Madras and then affirmed by the Supreme Court, terming reservations as unconstitutional. But soon Prime Minister Nehru had to intervene and introduce the first amendment to the constitution and undo the judgement of the Supreme Court. He goes on to state that equality of law shouldn't cement inequalities existing in the society. Subsequently, the author also underlines the imperative significance of equality in our personal lives. Under the paradigm of marriage, he raises marital rape as an important issue which still has not been identified as a crime in our country.
