Ravi Rohmetra
Mehar Chand Mahajan was born on December 23,1889, in a Tikka Nagrota village of Kangra (Himachal Pradesh). His father Babu Brij Lal was a leader.As per the family Pandits, the newly born baby was inauspicious for the father and was therefore given to a Rajput family as foster child. He remained there for 12 years before returning to his parents on the day fixed by the astrologers. The boy was very intelligent and his father asked him to pursue law degree in the Punjab University in Lahore.
Mahajan, after attaining the degree, started his legal practice at Dharamshalla and then shifted to Gurdaspur. It was at Gurdaspur that he became famous as a lawyer and was persuaded by his friends to move to Lahore High Court which he did in . Within a few years, he became a leading advocate and earned both respect and money. A case against Maharaja Partap Singh was moved in the Lahore High Court by the Raja of Poonch.
Mahajan could have earned a lot of money in this case but his good advice to the Raja resulted into a compromise between the two ruling families and the case was withdrawn.
In 1921, he purchased a car and decided to visit Kashmir. On his way, he halted at Jammu for a day before proceeding to the Valley to see all the beautiful locales with his family members. By 1942, he had become the most reputed advocate in the whole of Punjab. During this period, he came in contact with Arya Samaj and began to take keen interest in its activities.
In May,1947, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State, sent his Maharani Tara Devi and his son, Dr Karan Singh, and Captain Harnam Singh to meet Mahajan Mehar Chand and offered him the post of Prime Minister of his state,
He met the Maharani in a hotel in Lahore, The queen asked Mahajan to see Maharaja Hari Singh but he was unwilling to take up the post, Prince Karan Singh then intervened and asked mahajan, ” Is our state is so small that its post of prime minister is below your status and dignity?”
On hearing this Mahajan agreed to meet Maharaja Hari Singh. It is said that Mahajan’s name was suggested by the then home minister of India Sardar Patel. Immediately after this episode, Mahajan was made the member of Redcliffe Commission, On account of this, he could not meet Maharaja Hari Singh.
Most of our readers may not be aware that notionally the entire Gurdaspur was awarded to Pakistan. Had this been allowed to happen, there would have been no rail and road link between India and J&K and Pakistan could have easily grabbed the entire state. This would have proved catastrophic for the lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs residing in the state.
The Redcliffe Commission had representatives of all the religions and parties and Mahajan’s role in the division of Gurdaspur with large parts of its area remaining with India is praiseworthy. Moreover, Gurdaspur district was a Muslim-majority area the role principal on which the division of the country took place and so pro-Pakistan lobby was expecting the entire Gurdaspur district in the Pakistan. The main arguments which Mahajan argued before other commission were as under:
Ravi river should be made boundary between India and Pakistan as this could be a natural dividing line.
Ravi canal was constructed by 40000
Sikh soldiers which were disbanded by the British in the second Anglo-Sikh war as such this canal was linked emotionally with Hindu and Sikhs.
It is correct that majority of the members were not unanimous and Lord Mountbatten was forced to intervene and give verdict. It seems Mahajan’s arguments impressed Mountbatten and he awarded a part of Gurdaspur to India. However, the award was kept secret for some time for political reasons.
After the Redcliffe award, Mahajan being chief judge of the High Court of east Punjab took leave with permission from the government of India and joined the post of Prime Minister of J&K in September 1947 on a monthly salary of Rs 5,000, besides free accommodation and vehicle . It was a very difficult situation in the state when he joined. He requested Maharaja Hari Singh to take decision regarding the accession of the state with India.
Menawhile, Guru Golwalkar of RSS came to Srinagar to persuade Maharaja Hari Singh to join the India Union. A meeting was held between Golwalkar and the Maharaja which was also attend by Mahajan.
Mahajan also supported Golwalkar and requested the Maharaja to take a final decision at regarding accession with India . After the accession was agreed upon by the government of India, the Indian forces arrived at Srinagar airport on October 27 and found that the Patiala forces were already there to defend the airport.
Its seems that Golwalkar had requested the Maharaja of Patiala, immediately after the meeting with Maharaja Hari Singh, to send his armed men at Srinagar airport for its defences. Otherwise, the presence of Patiala forces in Kashmir was not possible . In this way, J&K was saved from fallingh into the hands of Pakistan.
Justice Mahajan made his name as an accomplished lawyer, respected judge, and a very influential politician. As a judge, he was incisive and forthright and had many leading judgment to his credit. Justice Mahajan took office as the third chief justice of India on January 4, 1954.
He was the head of the India’s judicial system for almost a year, untill his retirement on December 22,1954 (mandatory retirement at age 65). Before becoming the chief justice, he served as one of the first judges of the supreme court of independent India from October4, 1948 to January 3,1954.
He moblised contributions worth lakhs of rupees for the introduction of Arya Samaj. Mahajan was President of Swami Dayanandji’s birthplace Tankara.
He was also the director of Punjab Ntional Bank for a period of 35 years. Mehar Chand took pride in calling himself Mahajan and was in fact the first person to use “Mahajan” as his surname. In 1929,
Mehar Chand Mahajan was sworn in as president of the Akhil Bharatiya Mahajan Shiromani Sabha. .It is matter of joy that Jammu Central Mahajan Sabha has opened a hospital in the memory of Mahajan Sahib and named it Justice Mehar Chand Hospital in Gandhi Nagar where free treatment and medicines are available to the patients irrespective of caste, creed and colour.
(The author is social worker and writer)
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