Studying Law continues....

Our third Professor was Mr. Haq Nawaz, a barrister and a scion of the great Bagbanpura Arain family which produced, Sir Mohammad Shafi, who thrice became a member of Viceroy’s Executive Council, Sir Mohammad Shah Din, a Judge of the Punjab Chief Court and Sir Abdul Rashid, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Pakistan. Haq Nawaz had not much legal talent, but in good humour and good manners, it was difficult to beat him. It was he who, at the suggestion of Principal Golak Nath, gave me and Jagan Nath extra lectures in our first year. The procedure was very simple. We used to go to his house at Mozang Road and sit outside in the verandah. After some time the professor would come out and add ten lectures for both of us every day. But for Principal Chatterjee and Professor Haq Nawaz being so ‘obliging’ Jagan Nath and Mehr Chand would not have probably become the great lawyers that they became. Jagan Nath stood first and I second in both the Law examinations. Both of us became leaders of the Lahore High Court Bar in succession. Both of us were on the Syndicate of the Punjab University. Lala Jagan Nath was for some time a member of the Central Legislative Assembly, and I became a Judge. Our careers might have been quite different if we had lost a year for failure to join the college in time.

Sometimes I wish our Vice Chancellors and Principals did not enforce attendance at the point of the bayonet, but attracted students by making lectures useful and inspiring. Most of the students know their interest well and when a lecture is interesting and instructive they do not usually miss it unless there is a greater counter-attraction elsewhere. It is possible that for the likes of Jagan Nath and Mehr Chand the teachers of today have a softer corner in their hearts.

to be continued....

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