The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 61
61 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN I could keep in touch with the principal members, I would know what aspects of the constitutional problem they were discussing and I might be able to assist in conversations behind the scenes with regard to matters in which we were interested. So I consulted Sir Fazle Hussain whether he thought this might be useful. During the First, Second and Third Roundtable Conferences and the sittings of the Joint Select Committee, delegates were anxious to proceed to England. It was considered a compliment to be chosen to take part in the discussions, and this was made easy as passages and living expenses in London were looked after. I felt that if anything in which we were interested as Muslims now went wrong, there might be a feeling that while everyone rushed to England as an invited member, with expenses paid, we had been guilty of neglect during the crucial stage. Sir Fazle Hussain said, "It would be good if you can manage it. I hesitate to suggest it to you because you have been to England four times and it might have affected your practice. It might be too much to ask you to do it again. " I assured him that my previous visits had not affected my practice prejudiciously; it was that I had to concentrate on my work and practice in the remaining months of the year, but somehow, though the number of my cases I could deal with had not increased, my fees had risen, and I had suffered no financial loss. On the contrary each year had been better than the previous year, so that I had no anxiety on that score. He said, "Well, in that case, if you were to go, I would be very happy. Do keep me in touch with things. " That journey became memorable from one other point of view also. It was my first journey to England by air. We started from Delhi by the Indian Transcontinental Airways, on the board of which I was one of the Directors representing Imperial Airways. Imperial Airways was the predecessor of what is today called the BOAC. They had a certain interest in the Indian Transcontinental Airways which entitled them to nominate two directors and one of them had to be an Indian. They nominated one of their own people, Mr. Pinhorn, and I think it was at the suggestion of Sir Eric Mieville, who had been Private Secretary to Lord Willingdon and who had known me fairly intimately, when I was a member of the Governor General's Executive Council in 1932, that I was nominated as their second director.