At the Pleasure of His Majesty: Indian Legal Legends Launch Book On I.M. Lall's Revered Legacy

New Delhi: Carrying forward his grandfather's legendary legacy celebrating courage, resilience and justice, Senior advocate Chander M Lall on Tuesday launched the book "At the Pleasure of His Majesty: I.M. Lall and The Case That Shook the Crown" at the Delhi High Court auditorium in the presence of Indian legal luminaries, including Supreme Court judges Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sanjay Karol and former Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. 

Published by Rupa Publications, the book calls attention to captivating journey and remarkable story of Inder Mohan Lall, ICS, a true legal legend, and author's grandfather. The book launch was also attended by Justice Manmohan, Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, former CEO of NITI Aayog. 

The evening that saw book launch unfolded extraordinary life and legal battles of IM Lall. From surviving the siege of Kut Al Amara (modern-day Iraq) in the First World War, where 70% of the 8,000-strong garrison deployed was killed, to challenging the British Crown in a landmark legal battle, IM Lall's journey signifies heroics and triumphs. 

IM Lall's Legal Triumph, Courtroom Accounts 

After surviving siege of Kut Al Amara the, he joined the Indian Civil Service (ICS). Lall challenged the British Raj, paving the foundation of Article 311 (dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State) of the Constitution of India, according to a statement.

He was the only civil servant in the history of the Commonwealth who challenged the Crown for his wrongful dismissal and clinched legal victory. Lall's reinstatement was ordered in the verdict of the case “High Commissioner for India & the High Commissioner for Pakistan vs. I.M. Lall.” 

At The Pleasure of His Majesty: Thrilling Pages

1. Chander M. Lall underlined IM Lall's influencing history which laid foundation to the very fabric of service law in India. Divided in six phases, live his remarkable journey. 
2. He fought in the First World War and barely survived a deadly siege.  
3. Under unfavourable conditions, he self-educated himself to eventually become a coveted ICS officer.
4. He did not cow down to the injustice of the Crown and bravely fought legal battle. 
5. IM Lall's family was on the other side (now Pakistan) of the invisible line at the time of partition when he was in England fighting his case in the Privy Council.  
6. His victory in the legal battle victory contributed to Article 311 of the Indian Constitution. 

Grandson Chander, recounting his grandfather's victory, said, “I am proud to be his grandson and am thrilled I could document all this by this work of love. This book is a first-hand account of history being made about an unsung patriot whose song must be sung. I hope the readers enjoy the music.” 

Justice Kohli, Amitabh Kant Shares View

Justice Hima Kohli shared expressive reflections on the story of IM Lall and said, “A lot of memories came along, primarily those created by my father. My parents were from Pakistan (erstwhile unified Punjab). My father was young when he had gone to study in Lahore. When the partition happened, at that time most of the parents did not think that they will never come back. They all thought that there is big likelihood of Lahore being part of India. And theythought they were only going there for a short while and will be coming back to their homes, which never happened.” 

"So, they left that part of India and travelled back to post-partitioned India, never to look back and never to go back. That itself was a big trauma. The journey, when they travelled from that side to this one (what was India now) was traumatic and devastating for many of them because they were hearing about dead bodies lying all over and trains, busloads of people cutting across from here to Pakistan and vice-versa...all that trauma shared by my father was deep inside. But the refugees from Pakistan, they made a real place for themselves after they started from the scratch and went on to work, build industries, trade, on all fronts."

Lauding the valour and courage of IM Lall to bring change in the society, Amitabh Kant hailed the writing style of Chander M Lall which brought his grandfather alive. Reacting to story of IM Lall, he said, “A young man from Mianwali village (present-day Pakistan) joins the Army and many of us don't know, but 200,000 Indians fought the First World War, about 95% Indians got killed in that war while fighting for the Crown.”

“Here's a man who went and fought for the Crown…and then he sits for the ICS, gets in, becomes in-charge, fights, loses his job for what he did was obviously right, he fights at all levels of the Crown and finally wins the case. So, it is a remarkable story of courage, determination, of immense amount of belief in himself.”