Vasantha Pai | |
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Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council | |
Personal details | |
Spouse | Shantha Bai |
Alma mater | Madras Law College |
Guna Vasantha Pai was a Senior Advocate of the Madras High Court and Indian Supreme Court, a freedom fighter, activist and a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (MLC). [1] [2] [3] [4] He is best known for filing one of the first public interest litigations against the then sitting Chief Justice of the Madras High court S. Ramachandra Iyer after Pai found evidence [5] that the judge had forged his date of birth to avoid compulsory retirement at the age of 60 and the judge's younger brother sent invitations to celebrate his 60th birthday. This led the then Chief Justice of India P. B. Gajendragadkar to ask Ramachandra Iyer to resign as the case would severely damage the judiciary and he resigned before the case came up for hearing. [6] This led the case to be dismissed as he had resigned. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council and he refused to take oath from the then pro-tem chairman, Abdul Wahab as he had advocated secession and swore himself as a legislator. His oath was upheld by the Madras High Court. [7]
At a young age, Vasantha Pai joined public life. He actively participated in India's freedom struggle as a response to Mahatma’s call. Pai enrolled as a student of the Madras Law College. With lot of struggles, he obtained his law degree. Later Pai got his early practical training from his father, Guna Pai, who was a famous commercial lawyer in Ernakulam, Kerala. Pai moved to Chennai in the 1950s and started his legal practice. During the same time, the Indian High Courts began in exploring their new constitutional powers under the writ jurisdiction. Vasantha Pai specialized in election law issues and corporate matters and became a well-known authority on these legal subjects. [8]
Justice Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna Iyer was an Indian judge who became a pioneer of judicial activism. He pioneered the legal-aid movement in the country. Before that, he was a state minister and politician.
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Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. It was established in 1891. It was renamed in 1990, as Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, by the Government of Tamil Nadu in commemoration of the birth centenary of B. R. Ambedkar. In 1997, the Government of Tamil Nadu passed an Act which brought the college under the wings of the newly established Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, splitting the college from the University of Madras.
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initially created as an advisory body in 1861, by the British colonial government. It was established by the Indian Councils Act 1861, enacted in the British parliament in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Its role and strength were later expanded by the second Council Act of 1892. Limited election was introduced in 1909. The Council became a unicameral legislative body in 1921 and eventually the upper chamber of a bicameral legislature in 1937. After India became independent in 1947, it continued to be the upper chamber of the legislature of Madras State, one of the successor states to the Madras Presidency. It was renamed as the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council when the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969. The Council was abolished by the M. G. Ramachandran administration on 1 November 1986. In 1989, 1996 and 2010, the DMK regime headed by M. Karunanidhi tried to revive the Council. The former AIADMK regime (2016-2021) expressed its intention not to revive the council and passed a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in this regard.
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