“Neither the members of the legal profession, barristers, vakils and attorneys, nor the general public were much impressed with the manner in which Mr. Justice Benson discharged his duties as judge of the High Court. He … had no broad outlook in the administration of justice in this country, had an inveterate official bias in the trial of all civil and criminal cases in which the Government or the Crown was interested and was an Anglo-Indian to the backbone in the matter of the relations between Indians and Englishmen in this country”.
APRIL 23, 1914
The Benson memorial
WE LEARN THAT THE PORTRAIT OF SIR RALPH BENSON, late Judge of the Madras High Court, which was got up at the expense of the Provincial Service officers in this Presidency, was brought to the High Court this morning and arrangements are being made to place the portrait in the third Court facing Sir T. Muthuswami Iyer’s statue. The Hon’ble the Chief Justice will, we understand, perform the unveiling ceremony on the 27th instant, at the request of the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sadasiva Iyer on behalf of the Provincial Service men. This seems to us to be an unprecedented mode of doing honour to a retired Judge of the High Court. Neither the members of the legal profession, barristers, vakils and attorneys, nor the general public were much impressed with the manner in which Mr. Justice Benson discharged his duties as Judge of the High Court. He was a civilian among civilian judges, had no broad outlook in the administration of justice in this country, had an inveterate official bias in the trial of all civil and criminal cases in which the Government or the Crown was interested and was an Anglo-Indian to the backbone in the matter of the relations between Indians and Englishmen in this country. It was very significant that Sir Ralph Benson after his prolonged service on the Bench of the High Court, not to speak of his having been the Nestor of the Indian Civil Service at the time of his retirement, was allowed to depart from the Bench without a word of appreciation and kindly farewell by the members of the Bar, Indian or European. We have no doubt whatever that the members of the Bar acted in conformity with the general feeling of the public on the subject, when they refused to recognise that Mr. Justice Benson was entitled to substantial approbation in the discharge of his duties as Judge. The substance and tenor of Sir Ralph Benson’s evidence before the Royal Commission on Public Services, was against the just claims of the sons of the soil to an adequate share in the Government of the country and in all respectable opportunities to do service to the country and make themselves worthy of it. There was undoubtedly a feeling among the members of the Provincial Judicial Service that Mr. Justice Benson sometimes championed successfully their claims to advancement in the service against the competing claims of members of the legal profession. Sir Ralph Benson’s evidence before the Royal Commission does not show that he had estimated the capacity of the members of the Provincial Judical Service very highly, but it is a fact that when the claims of the members of that Service were pitted against those of members of the Bar, the civilian’s prejudice against the latter class inured to the benefit of the former. However this may be, the members of the Provincial Service, as the outcome of a movement which was avowedly secret and was started and developed at the time when Sir Ralph Benson was in active Service, have no right to foist a memorial upon the public which will, for future generations, have all the semblance of a public acknowledgment of his judicial accomplishments. The present memorial seems to be of the sort brought in by the backdoor to be installed in the face of the public. In view of all these considerations, we cannot but enter a protest on behalf of the public against the placing of the portrait of Sir Ralph Benson in the High Court and in proximity, as is alleged, to the statue of the eminent Hindu Judge, the late Sir T. Muthuswami Aiyar.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I