Hyderabad: Celebrating the 76th Republic day at the Telangana high court on Sunday, Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and advocate general A Sudarshan Reddy remembered the bravery and sacrifices of the Indian officers who were serving in British India but later joined Indian National Army (INA) which declared war on the Imperial British Rule. Scores of them were later caught and were made to face trial.
“The coverage of news about the trial of British Indian Army officials who rebelled against the British and switched over to Subhash Chandra Bose-led INA through court marshal mode at Red Fort in New Delhi, popularly known as INA Trials (between Nov 1945 and May 1946), had an electrifying impact on the nation. The trial and the ensuing public outrage became the tipping point that hastened the collapse of colonial rule in India,” AG Sudarshan Reddy said.
In his speech after unfurling the national tricolour, Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul said that Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel and others from Congress took a clear stand on behalf of Indian National Congress (INC) at that time to rope in top legal brains from the country to defend the rebel officers.
Thus came in lawyer and patriot Bhulabhai Desai, who snubbed the charge of treason slapped against the rebel officers, both the ACJ and the AG recalled.
Bhulabhai presented before the imperial authorities “probably the first legal argument before any court in the world which sought to establish the legal right of an enslaved nation to wage a war of national liberation against its foreign ruler”, they said, adding, “Over the course of 10 hours spread across two days, he presented a stirring defence without any interruption or notes, which a British professor admitted was a spectacular and unparalleled job.”
Justice Sujoy Paul called upon the young advocates to draw inspiration from the effort of Bhulabhai.
Acting CJ Sujoy Paul and advocate general A Sudarshan Reddy remembered the bravery and sacrifices of Indian officers serving in British India who later joined the Indian National Army
