Chamber No. 1: The Legacy

1. Whenever we recall India’s finest legal luminaries and jurists be it Nani Palkhivala, Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabjee, CK Daphtary, Iqbal Chagla, Motilal Setalvad, Sir, Jamsetji Kanga or Kharshedji Bhabha, we find that all of their roots can be traced back to one particular extraordinary place which is the Chamber No. 1 of the Bombay High Court. Chamber No. 1 is not just another physical room which housed such towering figures but a cradle which fostered these personalities. Chamber No. 1 which was also popularly referred to as the “Chamber of all Talents” which was byfar the most envied place of that time within the country’s legal landscape. The saying amongst juniors of the Bombay bar for Chamber No. 1 used to be that “To join Chamber No. 1 was an occupational hazard as you ran every risk of being offered a judgeship!”. This is the legend of Chamber No. 1.
   

   

   CHAMBER NO.1 - THE LEGACY

2. The Chamber No. 1 which originally stood on the ground floor of the High Court building on the Bombay University side measuring about 30ft x15ft with a large veranda at one end. The Chamber then belonged to Mr. Jamsetjee Kanga. Next to the chamber of Mr. Kanga was Somji’s chamber, next to that was Sorab Vimadalal’s and then the Chamber of KH Bhabha had remainked a young junior to Kanga. The same floor also contained the Kanga’s chamber, which at that time was not very big but yet was always full with clients, juniors and staff. The chamber used to be so packed that once Justice Coyaji of the Bombay High Court jokingly remarked that “I don’t know how you fellows don’t fall and break your necks”. The most prosperous chamber of all was also a great training ground for young professionals wanting to learn the art of advocacy. The names of his juniors read like a hall of fame. One of Kanga's very early juniors was Sir H.J. Kania, who went on to become the first Chief Justice of India, whom Kanga affectionately remembered as “a very nice and industrious boy who read all my briefs.” Justice S. R. Tendolkar was another notable junior of his.
   

3. Around the 1950s, Kanga’s chamber had a combination of seven small and large tables for occupation by young juniors who were desperate to get in and to learn at the feet of the best. The Chamber had four large tables on one side. Murzban Mistree had a table close to the table of Kanga, next to him sat Rustom Kolah, who was the first to have recieved an offer for Supreme Court judgeship directly from the Bar and then finally Homi Seervai who too was offered direct elevation to the Supreme Court. Whilst the smaller tables almost stuck into the wall on the other side, were taken by Jal Vimadalal, Nani Palkhiwala, Dwarkadas (Janak’s father), Jehangoo Khambatta, later Soli Sorabjee, Iqbal Chagla Kharshedji Bhabha (who also had his own chamber) and a multitute of other great lawyers.
   

4. Working amidst the commotion of Kanga’s chamber taught its juniors to work and focus under the most noisy and uncomfortable conditions. To all who managed to get into Kanga’s chambers, he was extremely generous in giving them work. In his prime, virtually any matter which required a senior would cross Kanga and he would happily shower his juniors with work. With time, the chamber got tagged with the luckiest chambers for new joinees in the profession. Kanga’s verandah always blessed the chamber with a great deal of sunshine and fresh air round the year and everyone whether from and out would hang out around the chamber.
   

5. By the late 1950s, Bombay High Court was developing. The bench was growing and so were the court’s needs for new rooms to house new judge chambers, its court staff and develop registrar courts. In 1957, when Mr. MC Chagla was serving as the chief justice of the then Bombay High Court and he in order to cater these growing needs asked for the chambers on the ground floor to be vacated, the same floor which had the original chamber no 1. Pursuant to the agitation by the seniors of the court, a representation was led by Kanga to the Chief Justice Chagla. Chagla said to the seniors, “I’m very sorry gentlemen, this will have to be done and you will have to find something. I can give you a couple of months more, but from the beginning of June all of you will have to go”. Kanga replied in a frowned manner, “then M’Lord, I will sit at home” which came as a shock to Chagla who said “What! Sir Jamsetjee you will sit at home?” “Well, I can only sit at home, where else can I sit?”  CJ Chagla held tremendous respect for Kanga, having been his junior.
   

6. Chief justice Chagla took his time and somehow managed to convince PWD to construct a floor in the adjoining under construction Annexe building only for Kanga. And so they did, connecting that floor to the existing High court building. That newly constructed floor accommodated 16 chambers with the biggest room as Chamber No. 1. Within the newly constructed chamber no. 1, A section was carved out with a separate air conditioner for Bhabha as he desired. Even after Kanga was virtually retired he would stop by the chamber everyday. He sustained a habit of collecting mail for his juniors and positively appraising them of the same in the evenings. He would often form a huddle with his juniors and tell them the tales of the Bombay Bar. One would also often find him in his chamber reciting the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi which contained over a lakh of lines which had learnt by heart.
   

7. Gradually , Kanga’s role in the chamber was being succeeded by Bhabha. Bhabha was fond of the bar library, just like Kanga he would often talk with his juniors who most of the time would not even realise that they were talking to the great KH Bhabha. He was also very fond of taking vacations with his family, he would often go on long vacations during court holidays and on his return would tell everyone about the wonderful time he had with his family. Kharshedji had a very large table and he gave Fali the first junior’s table, the rest were all cubicles where meetings would be held with clients and were occupied by Soli Sorabjee, Nani Palkhivala, Avinash Rana, Janak Dwarkadas and so on.
   

8. The golden rule of the Chamber No. 1 set by Bhabha himself which applied to everyone in the chamber was that when you work you work and when you play you play. As per Bhabha’s rules, no lawyer could talk shop during the one hour of lunch they had and during their tea break. You could practically rip out the reputation of anyone and slander / libel or defamation would not apply. No Shop Talk was the mandate of the Chamber No. 1.
   

9. Being part of the Chamber No. 1, came with a lot of benefits such as access to the then ‘Dholia’ parties, the Chamber No. 1 cricket matches captained by Bhabha, and the team composed of members of the Chamber No. 1. Bhabha would organise these evenings at Abanara where everyone from the chamber had a default invite and had to show up. He of course would often host Snooker games at Bombay Gymkhana with Sama Variava.  Often called the Red Brigade, Bhabha, Fali, Janak, Nani, Iqbal would spend a lot of quality time together apart from being in Courts. The Red Brigade would often be spotted at Chaaya Restraunt enjoying Dahi Missal or at these CCI matches where Bhabha would smuggle in the rest of his squad since he was the only member then. Even Kharshedji’s wife Naju would host Chamber No. 1 parties with the finest wine, whiskey and music.
   

10. Apart from all the fun Bhabha bestowed upon the Chamber No. 1, he was also a hard task master. He would often pile up his juniors with multiple briefs and then he used to ask point blank about facts, laws, dates. Often he would himself prepare for hearings late at night with the entire squad and no one dared to leave the chamber before Bhabha. Manier times he would ask new juniors to make themselves scarce in order to make room for clients and conferences but whenever felt that something can be learnt by them, he would call and ask them to accompany him to the arguments, hearings, etc.  So was the culture of camaraderie, hard work, persistence and joyous fun within the chamber No. 1.
    

11. Another famous incident within the Bombay Bar that captures the legend of Khurshedji Bhabha’s charm, wit, and humanity that made Chamber No. 1 unforgettable is one with Spencer & Co as recalled by Avinash Rana.  “Chamber No. 1 had an air conditioner which was a Kelvinatory from Spencer & Co. Now, if anything went wrong he would ask Bhiwa to ask ‘Readymoney’ to come and repair it. So Bhiwa would call and say, “Readymoney, Bhabhasaheb keheche emnu air-conditioning chaaltu nathi, aavijavo.” And some Parsi chap would come and repair the air-conditioner. Once Bhiwa was not there and Kharshedji asked me to ask ‘Readymoney’. So I called and asked for Mr Readymoney (Bhiwa would never use that prefix). Mr Readymoney came to the phone, and I said “would you kindly come?” He said “No, I am sending my mechanic”. I said, “You won’t be coming?” “No, I’m the Managing Director of Spencer & Co”. So that’s how I came to know that the Managing Director of the company was addressed by Bhiwa as only ‘Readymoney’! That was Kharshedji’s Chamber; his peons also would use all sorts of language! Great chaps!”
    

12.  While the presence of Bhabha defined the chamber, his titans of juniors were no less. When Soli Sorabjee once appeared before the Customs Commissioner, the judge glanced at the young lawyer entering the court and knowing that Mr. Soli Sorabjee was marked as counsel. So the bench asked him to wait, and Soli took his seat, ready to begin the moment his matter was called. After some time had passed, he lost his patience, stood up and said in his commanding voice “My Lordship, may I Begin?”. The judge said “Let your father come, I see Mr. Soli has to argue the matter”. Surprised, Soli replied “ I am Soli Sorabjee and my father is not even a lawyer”. That was the impact of his boyish face, curly hair, round glasses, and a presence far too young-looking for the weight of the name he carried.
    

13.  Similar was the greatness of Homi Seervai, who was always addressed as ‘Sergeant’ because he walked like the old Sergeants in the Courts of England, not the Sergeant in the army or the military or the police, but the old legal Sergeants in England Courthouses. There was also Mr. Nani Palkhivala, popularly known as “the darling of the young members of the Bar” and by far one of the finest legal minds of our countries. Nani was also the lawyer preferred by the prime minister Indira Gandhi during the emergency. And Nani being the man of principles he was, refused to appear. Another noteworthy incident that goes down in history books relates to two of the finest products of the Chamber No. 1 - CK Daphtery and Nani himself in the landmark case of Keshavananda Bharati (Basic Structure Doctrine Case).
    

14. In the words of Iqbal Chagla “But I think that few of you would know that Nani almost did not get past the first day. For all his unbridled eloquence, Nani found himself at a loss for words. On that first day, there he was appearing before 13 judges who, one after another, hurled questions at him. Before he could answer one, came the next. At the end of the day, an exhausted Nani Palkhivala sat down and said “I cannot continue. I am not going to argue tomorrow.” Chandu Daphtary - the wily Chandu Daphtary - turned to him and said, “Don’t worry. Tomorrow, you will have a quiet Court.” Nani couldn’t understand this. Nobody could. Puffing on his pipe, off went Chandu Daphtary to Chief Justice Sikri’s Chamber. He saw Sikri. Of course, when he entered, just as everyone else was always very happy to see Daphtary, Sikri said, “Ah, Daphtary, and to what do we owe the honour of your presence today?” Daphtary said, “Well, Chief Justice, there was a man who had come with his daughter and she was so impressed, I thought I must come and tell you.” “Oh really?” said Sikri, beaming. Daphtary went on. He said, “Yes, there he was with his young daughter, and she said, Daddy, what a magnificent courtroom! What elegant, magnificent gentlemen sitting up there! How beautifully they speak! But who is that awfully rude man down there who keeps disturbing them all the time?” And Sikri said, “Point taken, Daphtary, I shall have a word with my brother judges.” And, of course, the next day, it was totally quiet. Nani was allowed to weave his magic, and, ultimately, argue his case.”
    

15.  Similarly, there was Fali Nariman who was curious, passionate, kind,  humorous, a great mimic and a great spinner of stories. As recalled by Janak Dwarkadas, Fali lived by four major lessons which were unique in a manner similar to him. The first lesson was to “Always pay your taxes and Sleep well”. The second lesson was “Never refuse a brief before any court, tribunal, or administrative authority”. Thirdly he would say, "Remember, the smaller the man, the greater the ego. That's where you learn to deal with judges."  and lastly there was “Never underestimate the importance of pleadings”. He always used to teach his juniors that "Pleadings are the foundation of a case”. As recalled by his juniors, there were numerous cases where Fali went to court and demolished the case of the other side on the lack of pleadings alone. But apart from Fali’s ruthless and masterful wit in the court, he was also a man full of compassion.
    

16.  What made the chamber extraordinary was not just individual brilliance, but the lineage of excellence it created. The chamber no. 1 saw multiple generations and each generation of lawyers were carved to become India’s legal diamonds. For perspective, from the walls of Chamber No. 1 emerged Five Rajya Sabha Members  Fali Nariman, Nani Palkhivala, CK Daphtery, Motilal Setalvad, HM Seervai, three Attorneys General — Motilal Setalvad, Soli Sorabjee and C.K. Daphtary and two Solicitor Generals — C.K. Daphtary and Soli Sorabjee, a Chief Justice of India, H.J. Kania, two LAWASIA presidents and four Bar Association of India presidents - Anil Divan, Nariman, Daphtery, Setalvad.  It produced the majority of the country’s eminent jurists, constitutional, civil, criminal and tax lawyers.
    

17. In the end, Chamber No. 1 was never just a physical space tucked away in the Bombay High Court. It was a finishing school, and at times, a theatre of uncomparable intellect, wit and camradarie. The impact of Chamber No. 1 cannot be measured in square feet, but in the lives of countless giants who still trace their origins, their learnings, and their craft to that room. The legacy of Chamber No. 1 is not about the past at all, it is a legacy still alive and still inspiring the Fali, Soli and CKs of tomorrow.