The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 29
29 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN Government of India I was judge of the Federal court, which is now the Supreme Court of India. He sent in his card and I recalled the name but thought it must be a different person. But when the caller was shown in, he turned out to be one of the accused in the conspiracy case. We both smiled at each other and I greeted him, and I said, "We meet after many years under very different circumstances. " He said, "That is so, and I have come to you with rather an unusual request. " "What is your request?" He said, "I have applied for a job in the technical side of All India Radio, and I want to give your name as a reference. Would you be prepared to answer a reference that might be made by All India Radio regarding me?" I said, "I am surprised you should wish to go into government service. Look what you were charged with in that case and how much you hated the British Government, and now you want to become an employee of the British Government. " He laughed at that and said, "Well, you see, those were days of youth, and one is apt to be carried away by emotion. One is much more idealistic and all that, and impatient for results. It is different now. There are various ways of working for independence; co-operation is one of them. So will you answer any reference in regard to me?" I said, "Yes, if the reference is made. " Eventually a reference was made to me and I was able to say that I had known him as an accused person in a certain case, that he was a very able young man, and that I understood that his thinking was more positive and more constructive now. I do not know whether he got the job, but he seemed to think that he was likely to get it. Question : I wonder if you would like to mention any of the details on how you happened to be appointed the Crown Counsel in the Delhi Conspiracy Case. Khan : Shortly after my return from the first Roundtable Conference, I was in Delhi, and the late Sir Fazle Hussain mentioned the case to me in a few words, saying there was likely to be a prosecution of this kind, and that his colleague in the Home Department, Sir James Crarer, had asked him to suggest a couple of names of members of the bar who might be prepared to take up the case on behalf of the Crown. Sir Fazle Hussain told me that he had mentioned my name and that it was possible that I might receive a request to that effect, in which case it would be for me to consider whether it suited me to take it on or not. Some time later I was attending a meeting of the Punjab Legislative Council at Lahore when Sir Donald Boyd, who was then a member of