Listen to My Case! When Women Approach the Courts of Tamil Nadu

‘This is a book about brave women. Brave – because the process of going to court is hard; even harder when the woman is without financial or emotional support from family, custom, or the present reading of the law. It speaks powerfully to every woman, and everyone who abhors gender-based discrimination.’

– Githa Hariharan, novelist

Justice K. Chandru, former judge of the Madras High Court, heard many cases in his illustrious career and passed landmark judgments on them – over 54,000 in fact. Among these are rulings on common burial grounds irrespective of caste, community-based reservation in noon meal centres, women becoming priests in temples, dispensing with police permission to stage plays, and more.

In twenty short accounts of such cases, Justice Chandru recounts how bold and courageous women, by approaching the law for redressal of wrongs done to them, have not only contributed to the fight for social justice, but have broadened and enriched the very meaning of justice.

Justice K. Chandru is a retired judge of the Madras High Court, famous for his moral rectitude. Among other things, he was one of the first judges to declare his assets to the Chief Justice; he refused to have a red beacon on his official car or a sub-inspector ranked personal security guard; he refused to be addressed as 'My Lord' in court; and surrendered his official car on the morning of his retirement, going home by public transport that evening. He passed many landmark judgements, many in favour of the underprivileged or marginalised sections of society.