Lokamanya Tilak in the Temple of Justice (An Old and Rare Book)

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SHRINIWAS BALWANT BELVI was born on 27th October 1931 at Karad (District Satara) in Maharashtra. He was educated at the Wilson College, Mumbai, the Indian Law Society's Law College, Pune and obtained his Master's Degree in Law in 1963.

The same year he entered the Maharashtra Judicial Service and retired as Chief Judge, Court of Small Causes, Mumbai in 1990. Since then he has contributed several articles on law and other subjects to 'the Bhavan's Journal', 'Maharashtra Law Journal', 'Lokasatta' and 'Loka prabha.'

Belvi, in this book, has given an account of all the court cases faced by Lokamanya Tilak in his life and shown how Tilak did not get justice in the Temple of Justice though ultimately his views were accepted both by the High Court at Bombay and the Privy Council in London. This book, though it deals with court cases, avoids uninteresting details of the evidence of the witnesses and the drab arguments of the lawyers. So far, there is no book narrating all the trials faced by Tilak. Hence, the reader, though he may not be familiar with law, would find this book quite interesting and revealing several noble and rare qualities of Tilak.

Belvi's grandfather, Dattatraya Venktesh Belvi (1866- 1962), to whose pious memory this book is dedicated, was a leading lawyer and also a member of the Central Legislative Assembly. He was, in his time, a prominent political figure and a close associate of Lokamanya Tilak.

We all know Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak as a great patriot, a freedom fighter, a scholar of international repute, and also commentator on the Bhagavad Geeta. He gave the Nation the Mantra "Swaraj is my birthright."

Tilak was a law graduate, but not a lawyer. He was well versed in law, particulary the Hindu Law.

Tilak, during his lifetime, had to face many criminal prosecutions and also civil litigations. He got involved in some cases while some cases were taken upon him by himself, and he fought them vehemently. He had also to suffer imprisonment more than once. Tilak's noble qualities, such as unusual courage, honesty to the core, to be true to friendship and the word given, selflessness, to fight for a just cause and object, and to think in a logical, practical manner and then only to take a decision, are amply revealed in all these court cases. Tilak faced all his court cases with great fortitude and fought them till the end by using his sound and deep knowledge of law, though he was not a lawyer by profession.

The author, Shrinivas Balwant Belvi, served for nearly 27 years in Maharashtra Judicial Service which he entered soon after he took his Master's degree in Law in 1963. He retired in 1990 as Chief Judge, Court of Small Causes in Mumbai. He knows the temples of justice we call courts, he also knows the ritual and the deeper reality of the temples of justice. He understands the intricacies of law and the triumphs and failures of justice in courts of law. In this remarkable book, he brings to bear that knowledge and the experience of a lifetime on the trials and tribulations of Lokamanya Tilak at the bar of Justice during a critical period of India's struggle for freedom.