Madhusudan_Das

His Life and Achievements 15
But Mr. Das was not a man without his enemies. I distinctly
noticed that there were in Orissa some people who eyed him and his
doings with a certain amount of suspicion. I could not make out,
however, what these suspicions were based upon. It may be the
way in which Mr. Das spent was beyond his means, which being his
income from the profession as a lawyer. But one must not forget
that Mr. Das could legitimately claim and earn considerable fees from
the work he did for some of the Tributary Chiefs.
It was a noticeable fact that during my stay of five years in
Orissa, Mr. Das who as a lawyer commanding perhaps the most
extensive practice in Orissa never appeared in my Court, although
being the Joint Magistrate and Sub-Divisional Officer, I had in those
days to try the most important criminal cases. I could not at that
time make out what it was really due to and the question was too
delicate for me to put to Mr. Das himself. It was some time after I
had left Orissa that I came to know what the real reason was. If he
never appeared in my Court it was not because he had been offered
no brief to appear before me but he considered that having regard to
the great intimacy between us it would not be fair on me for him to
appear in my Court. I was told that there had been occasions when
he resolutely refused to bring in cases before me although very big
fees were offered to him.
Mr. Das was very fond of my wife. He looked upon her almost
as his daughter. I shall never forget the kind and affectionate words
he said to her when she was lying in a precarious condition, after a
very big operation performed on her in 1928.
Madhusudan Das can rightly be described as a friend of the
poor and a true, just and fearless son of Orissa and his death is a
great loss to Orissa.
• ••
(5)
AN APPRECIATION
SUBODH CHANDRA CHATTERJEE,
I came to know Mr. Das long ago when I was a student in the
Ravenshaw College at Cuttack. His name had already acquired fame
far and wide. I was first attracted by one of his speeches in a public