About Calicut BAR Association in Calicut Court Complex, Kozhikode

The beginning was simple. It started in 1886 as a Law Library, formed under the then District Judge Mr. Frank H. Wilkinson. It bore the name 'Wilkinson's Law Library'. It was then an organization of Judges and Lawyers, with the District Judge as President. Messrs. Lewis Moore and R.H. Benson followed in Presidentship. But our records do not bear any trace of the organizational set up between 1895 to 1924.

Then in 1925, it was the turn of the giant of the Calicut Bar Mr. Raman Menon to sit in the President's chair, aided by Mr. K. Karunakaran Nair as Secretary. Thence onwards Calicut Bar's history continued to be epoch making, with all celebrities of the Bar adorning the Presidentship. The noteworthy change brought about was that it became a body exclusively of lawyers and it came to be known as Calicut Bar Association. Though Judges bid good bye to Presidency, all judicial officers continued to hold the Association of Advocates in high esteem. Confrontation was nil and Comraderie kept alive and bright. Raman Menon to D. V. Narayanan, the Calicut Bar has never failed to cater to the needs of the Calicut-Lawyer brotherhood.

Most of our members were not sheer Advocates, bent upon only on their lucrative practice, but they were fore runners in all great moments of History, freedom struggle to struggle to retain freedom. Politics, Culture, art, science, spirituality and even commerce were not alien to us and we did take the lead in all those spheres of human action.

Doyens like Manjeri Rama Iyer, U. Gopala Menon, K.G. Nair, K.V. Surynarayana Iyer, K.P. Kesava Menon, K. Madhavan Nair, S.K. Khader, and others excelled in the fight for law and justice not only in courts but out side in society too. They built the glorious tradition on which this Association's base rests.

Sri. K.V. Suryanarayana Iyer, our member was the choice for the first Advocate General of Kerala State on its formation. Again Mr. Ratnasingh rose to the post of the first Director General of Prosecution, when that post was created in Kerala. Sri. P. Govinda Menon and Sri. S.K. Khader adorned judgeship in the High Court of Kerala. First Chairman of the Kozhikode Municipality was our Advocate Sri. Manjeri Subramanya Iyer, while Sri. P.V. Sankaranarayanan was the first lawyer to become Mayor of the Calicut Corporation. Advocates, C.J. Robin, A. Sankaran and U.T. Rajan followed to Mayorship. Sarvasri Sri K. Madhava Menon, K.P. Kuttikrishnan Nair and Kongoat Raman Menon were Ministers in the Madras State Cabinet. Sri. Syed Mohamed and Sri. P.M. Sayeed rose to become Cabinet Ministers of India.

Out, outspoken views on national issues had even cost us our right to user of the Association Library Hall. In 1942 when a meeting of lawyers condemned British Premier Winston Churchil's despising speech on India, the premises were locked up by the Government and our members had to spent December of 42 under the green wood trees in the court campus. Again during the Emergency year, 1977, the lawyers Democratic Front was constituted by activist lawyers working for Human Rights and Civil Responsibilities. At the same time, we have laid red carpets for expression of views by leaders of all political parties. In our series of lecturers on ' Religion, Politics and National Integration' 1995, 'Court as Protector of Human Rights' 1996, we lent our ears to divergent views from lawyer-persons and public men.

In 1936 we celebrated our Golden Jubilee, in 1950, our Diamond Jubilee, in 1977 the Platinum Jubilee and in 1986 our Centenary. In 1951 we hosted the first ever Madras State Lawyers Conference inaugurated by Sri. M.C. Setalvad, Attorney General of India and in 1973 the first ever Kerala State Lawyers Conference, which gave birth to the Kerala Bar Federation, as whose President our member Advocate Joseph Jacob was elected. In 1976 the Legal Aid Council was inaugurated and in 1977 National Forum for Legal Aid too had its begining here. The 'Neethimela' was also at Calicut and worthy of remembrance when legal aid and Neethimelas are the order of the day.

The first Court in Malabar was established in 1793 at Calicut and to commemorate the great event after 200 years in 1993, we held the bicenternary Celebration of Calicut Courts in a grandiose manner, inaugurated by the Governor of Kerala. In that connection, we found time to take law to common man with our numerous legal literacy camps in various Panchayaths and Villages in Kozhikode District. In 1995, we celebrated the 'Navathy' of Sri. K. Kunhirama Menon, the living legend of law of our times.

Our space and accommodation, though not in pace with our numbers have also grown. The Bicenternary Block was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Kerala Sri. K. Karunakaran. Our Associations image boosters are the first A/C Library Room and first Computerised A/C Reference Library in South India. This computerised Library was declared open by Dr. K.R. Narayanan, Vice President of India on 6-10-1995. We have three Xerox copier machines of our own in the work, our Advocates Welfare Society is running a nourishing Canteen and a very useful stationary cum store.

We have the strength of four figures in membership, our strength being 1134, among whom 346 are women. As numbers swell, our facilities have shrunk. But still we forge ahead, inspired by the glorious past enthused by contemporary zeal, and enthralled by the clarion of the future.