The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 3
3 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN move to Lahore was connected with an offer that I received from the proprietor of Indian Cases, which was at that time the biggest law journal and law reporter in India. It reported the judgments of all the provincial High Courts and also the judgments of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on cases from India. The proprietor was the late Chaudhri Sir Shahabuddin, who subsequently became and remained for a number of years the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Council, which was set up under the Montagu-Chelmsford Scheme of Reforms, under the system known as Dyarchy. He too belonged to the Sialkot district, knew my father very well and was a friend of his. He had known me since my childhood, and he suggested that I should go to Lahore and work with him and then decide what I would prefer out of the various opportunities that might become available. So I moved to Lahore and started working as Assistant Editor of Indian Cases. Within three months he put me in charge of the editing side of Indian Cases, and I, in effect, became the Editor, relieving him of the greatest part of the editorial work. He encouraged me not to turn down any briefs that might be offered to me, but advised that I should be discriminating in selecting the cases I would accept. He was in many other ways extremely helpful to me. He was himself a lawyer, and had, if not a very voluminous practice, considerable experience in handling important cases. His advice to a youngster just entering the profession was extremely valuable. In 1919, I was also appointed part-time lecturer in the University Law College in Lahore. This came through the interest in me of the late Sir Fazle Hussain, who was a Fellow of the University, and was a member of the Law College Committee. When a couple of vacancies occurred among the part-time lecturers and he knew that one of the vacancies would be filled by the appointment of a young Muslim lawyer, he suggested that I should apply and was instrumental in my being given the appointment. That was of considerable help, not so much financially - the emoluments were not substantial - but in bringing me in closer contact with legal circles and, I suppose, giving me more confidence at that stage of my career. The teaching, which was committed to me, though of interest to me, did not really amount to much. When we sat down before the beginning of the term with the Principal of the college to decide what subjects should be allotted to whom, I did not put forward any claim