Kailash Nath Katju (Kashmiri: कैलाश नाथ काटजू (Devanagari), کیلاش ناتھ کاٹجو (Nastaleeq)) (June 17, 1887, Jaora - February 17, 1968) was a prominent politician of India. He was the Governor of Orissa and West Bengal, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Union Law Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Union Defence Minister. He was also one of India's most prominent lawyers. He was part of some of the most riveting cases of his times, including the famous INA trials. Dr Katju joined the freedom struggle against the British rule in India early on and spent several years incarcerated with fellow freedom fighters.
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Kailash Nath Katju's father Pandit Tribhuvan Nath belonged to a Kashmiri Brahmin family settled in the princely state of Jaora (in the present-day Madhya Pradesh). He studied in the Jaora School till March, 1900, when he was sent to Lahore. He passed his matriculation examination from Punjab University in 1901 and passed his B.A. examination from the Christian College, Lahore in March, 1905. In July, 1905 he joined the Muir Central College at Allahabad. In September, 1907 he passed his L.L.B. Examination from the Allahabad University, standing second in the province. In 1908 he passed his Master of Arts examination in History also from the Allahabad University. He started his career in the legal profession at Kanpur in 1908. In 1914 he shifted to Allahabad. In 1919, he took L.L.D. degree.
He defended the accused in the Meerut Conspiracy Case in Allahabad High Court in 1933 and later the military officers accused at the INA trial at Red Fort in Delhi. On July 17, 1937, he became the Minister of Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of the United Provinces in the Govind Ballabh Pant's cabinet. The ministry resigned on November 2, 1939 and soon he was imprisoned for 18 months. He was again imprisoned in 1942. He also served in the Constituent Assembly of India.
Following the independence of India, he held many high political positions. Initially he was the Governor of Orissa from August 15, 1947 to June 20, 1948. He became the Governor of West Bengal on June 21, 1948 and was in office till October 31, 1951. In 1951 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Mandsaur constituency, joining the cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru as Law Minister in 1951. In November 1951 he succeeded C. Rajagopalachari as the country's third Home Minister. In 1955 he was made the Defence Minister. He became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on January 31, 1957, remaining in office till March 11, 1962. He retired from politics in 1963.[1][2]
Dr Kailash Nath Katju wrote many books, some of which are the following:
He also wrote many articles and delivered many memorable speeches, including the following:
Dr Kailash Nath Katju had six children, three sons and three daughters. Many of his descendants continued his tradition of service to the country. His sons Shiva Nath Katju and Bramha Nath Katju were both Judges of the Allahabad High Court. Justice Bramha Nath Katju went on to be the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. Shiva Nath Katju, after his retirement joined the Hindu right wing VHP and became its President in the eighties.[5] His granddaughter, Professor Manjari Katju (Kailash Nath Katju's great-granddaughter) of the Hyderabad Central University's political science department has written a book"VISHWA HINDU PARISHAD AND INDIAN POLITICS " which has become an authoritative academic reading piece on the on the VHP.[6]
Amongst his grandsons, Justice Markandey Katju is the Chairman, Press Council of India. He was formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was also the Chief Justice of the Madras, Delhi and Allahbad High Courts.[7] Two of his grandsons, Vivek Katju and Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar, joined the Foreign Services of India. Vivek Katju retired as the Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs in 2011. He formerly served as India's Ambassador to several countries. Aditya N. D. Haksar also had a distinguished career in the Foreign Services, serving as Indian high commissioner to Kenya and the Seychelles, minister to the United States, and ambassador to Portugal and Yugoslavia.
Amongst his granddaughters, Dr Aparna Dar, is an Asst. Professor of Mathematics at IIT Kanpur, one of India's premier Engineering schools and Dr Tilottama Tharoor is a Professor of humanities at NYU. The latter was Sashi Tharoor's first wife.