What is in news : Filmmaker Karan Johar recently announced his decision to produce the biopic of Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, an acclaimed lawyer and judge in the Madras High Court and one of the early builders of the Indian National Congress

About :

• Born in the year 1857 in Mankara village of Malabar’s Palakkad district
• Studied law in Presidency College , Madras
• Hired by Sir Horatio Shepherd who later became the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court
• Known for his defiant attitude
• When the 1908 Montague-Chelmsford reforms were being discussed, he wrote an article in the Contemporary Review criticising the English jury for being partial towards Englishmen
• Equally despised by the Brahmins in Madras
• In 1897 he became the youngest president of the INC in the history of the party till then, and the only Malayali to hold the post ever
• In 1902 Lord Curzon appointed him a member of the Raleigh University Commission. In 1904 he was appointed as Companion of the Indian Empire by the King-Emperor and in 1912 he was knighted
• By 1908 he was appointed as a permanent judge in the Madras High Court.
• In 1915 he became part of the Viceroy’s Council, put in charge of the education portfolio.
• In 1919, he played an important role in the expansion of provisions in the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms which introduced a system of dyarchy in the provinces and increased participation of Indians in the administration
• Resigned from the Viceroy’s Council in protest against massacre of Jallianwala Bagh
• Nair wrote ‘Gandhi and Anarchy’, which was published in 1922. In the book, Nair spelt out his critique of Gandhi’s methods, especially those of non-violence, civil disobedience and non-cooperation. He believed that any of these movements was destined to lead to riots and bloodshed. In the same book, he also accused O’Dwyer which led charges against him.