Last Updated: February 07, 2023, 11:00 IST
It is believed that he pledged much of his property to the party fund.
His elder Nandlal Nehru, who was a lawyer in the Agra court, brought him up.
February 6 marked the death anniversary of Motilal Nehru, the father of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The most sought-after lawyer during his time, he joined the freedom struggle and left his luxurious life behind once he became a leader of the Indian National Congress. It is believed that he pledged much of his property to the party fund as well.
He was a remarkable lawyer, as former Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam said about him in a journal of the Indian Law Institute, calling him one of the wealthiest individuals in his era.” His eloquence and unique method of presenting the cases left a lasting impression on the English judges. Perhaps this contributed to his swift and efficient success. An Indian lawyer participating in a matter before the Privy Council of Great Britain was incredibly uncommon back then. But Motilal developed into the type of lawyer who was engaged in it,” he said.
Not much is known about Motilal’s childhood but he lost his father at a very young age. His elder Nandlal Nehru, who was a lawyer in the Agra court, brought him up. When the British brought the High Court from Agra to Allahabad, the family shifted to Allahabad. Then it remained here. Nandlal was counted among the big lawyers in those days. He educated his younger brother in the best colleges and then sent him to Cambridge to study law.
Motilal excelled in the Cambridge law exam. He went back to India and began working as a trainee attorney in Kanpur. Back then, barristers, who had received their education in Britain, enjoyed a particular standing. There weren’t many barristers in the nation either. Later, Motilal came to Allahabad and started his practice. After the demise of elder brother Nandlal, the burden of the family was on him.
In her book, Indu se Pradhan Mantri, Motilal’s younger daughter wrote that her father’s understanding of the law was extremely strong. His knowledge of the Hindu law of inheritance was prodigious. He got a lot of money in a case related to the succession of Lakhan state.
After 1889, he used to go to England continuously for cases and reportedly stayed in luxurious hotels. Motilal Nehru bought Swaraj Bhavan for 20 thousand rupees in his two years of advocacy in Allahabad High Court. Later, he donated this property worth crores to the Indian Congress in the 1920s. In the 1930s, he bought another big property near Civil Lines. He named it Anand Bhawan. It is said that it took many years to decorate this building.
Krishna, the younger daughter of Motilal Nehru, wrote in her autobiography that Motilal had adopted a westernized way of living not common in India at that time. The family even used forks and spoons at that time.
Motilal Nehru abandoned his position as an advocate and enlisted in the nation’s liberation fight in the 1920s after hearing and understanding Mahatma Gandhi and becoming close to him. Nevertheless, he was wealthy and in charge at the time. It is also frequently claimed that Motilal used to provide financial assistance to Congress during those times while it was experiencing financial difficulty. He twice served as the leader of Congress. He passed away in Lucknow on February 6, 1931. His legacy has been continued by his son Jawaharlal, granddaughter Indira Gandhi and presently by Rahul Gandhi.
