Madhusudan_Das

His Life and Achievements: 61
the belief that they would work as earnestly and wholeheartedly for
its welfare as he himself had done for its creation.
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A HISTORIC FIGURE
D.E. REUBEN
I have heard with great sorrow of the death of Mr. Madhusudan
Das, which has removed from our midst a historic figure and an
eminent lawyer. My acquaintance with Mr. Das began in 1919, when
I was Assistant Magistrate at Cuttack. He appeared only once in my
Court, but I remember being struck by the outstanding ability with
which he placed his case, bringing out with full force the strongest
points in his own story and exposing the weak points in that of the
other side. The case was a smile one, as it would be in the Court
of a Second Class magistrate but Mr. Das had evidently given it a
lot of time and thought.
This method of dealing with every case that he undertook was
characteristic of Mr. Das, as I discovered when I renewed my
acquaintance with him in 1928. My Das was a very conscientious
man, and felt that he was not giving full value, unless he gave his
client the best that he was capable of. He never appeared in my Court
in any case in which he was not thoroughly acquainted with the whole
record, and in which he had not studied the relevant law in all its
aspects. When I met Mr. Das for the second time he was an old man.
In spite of this, he used to put more work into his cases than any
other lawyer that I have known.
The energy of the man was amazing. When he was over 80
years, he would stand up in a Court and argue for hours without
faltering and without becoming inaudible or indistinct. To the end his
brain remained crystal clear. I particularly remember one appeal in
which he appeared before me. It was an ordinary case of riot, with
the object of taking possession of some land that was in dispute. Before
coming in Court I glanced at the record. The case appeared to be
an easy one and I wondered what it would be possible to urge in