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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]]
| image = SirChetturSankaranNair.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1857|07|11}}
| birth_place = Chettur, [[Ottapalam]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| residence =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1934|04|24|1857|07|11}}
| death_place = [[Madras]], [[British India]]
| office1 = Advocate General of the [[Madras Presidency]]
| term_start1 = 1906
| term_end1 = 1908
| predecessor1 = [[C. A. White]]
| successor1 = [[P. S. Sivaswami Iyer]]
| office2 = [[Indian National Congress|President of Indian National Congress]]
| term_start2 = 1897
| term_end2 = 1897
| predecessor2 = [[Rahimtulla M. Sayani]]
| successor2 = [[Anandamohan Bose]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| spouse =
| children =
| profession = Lawyer, jurist, activist, politician
| footnotes =
| signature =
}}

'''Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair''', [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (11 July 1857 – 24 April 1934) was a lawyer who also served as a President of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1897 at the meeting held at [[Amravati]]. He wrote ''Gandhi and Anarchy'' (1922).

==Early life and education==
Chettur Sankaran Nair was born on 11 July 1857 in a [[Hindu]] [[Nair]] aristocratic family of Manmayil Ramunni Panicker and Parvathy Amma Chettur in [[Mankara]], [[Palakkad district]]. His early education began in the traditional style at home and continued in schools in Malabar, till he passed the arts examination with a first class from the Provincial School at [[Kozhikode|Calicut]]. Then he joined the Presidency College, Madras. In 1877 he took his arts degree, and two years later secured the law degree from the Madras Law College.

==Career==
Nair started as a lawyer in 1880 in the High Court of Madras. In 1884, the [[Madras Province|Madras]] Government appointed him as a member of the committee for an enquiry into the [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|district of Malabar]]. Till 1908, he was the [[Advocate-General]] to the Government and an Acting Judge from time to time. In 1908, he became a permanent Judge in the High Court of Madras and held the post till 1915. He was a part of the bench that tried [[Collector Ashe]] murder case along with [[C. A. White]], then the Chief Justice of Madras, [[William Ayling (judge)|William Ayling]], as a special case.<ref>[http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2019%20No%208/The_Ashe_murder_case.html We care for Madras that is Chennai]. Madras Musings (17 June 1911). Retrieved on 2012-06-11.</ref>

In the meantime, in 1902, the Viceroy [[Lord Curzon]] appointed him Secretary to the [[Raleigh University Commission]]. In recognition of his services, he was appointed a [[Companion of the Indian Empire]] by the King-Emperor in 1904<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/27688/supplements/4010 ''London Gazette'', 21 June 1904]</ref> and in 1912 he was knighted.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/28626/supplements/5082 ''London Gazette'', 12 July 1912]</ref> He became a member of the [[Viceroy's Executive Council|Viceroy's Council]] in 1915 with the charge of the Education portfolio. As member, he wrote in 1919 two famous Minutes of Dissent in the Despatches on Indian Constitutional Reforms, pointing out the various defects of British rule in India and suggesting reforms. For an Indian to offer such criticism and make such demands was incredible in those days. The British government accepted most of his recommendations. Nair resigned from the Viceroy's Council in the aftermath of Jalianwalabagh massacre on 13 April 1919.

He played an active part in the Indian National movement which was gathering force in those days. In 1897, when the First Provincial Conference met in Madras, he was invited to preside over it. The same year, when the [[Indian National Congress]] assembled at [[Amaravathi]], he was chosen its [[List of presidents of the Indian National Congress|president]]. In a masterly address, he referred to the highhandedness of foreign administration, called for reforms and asked for self-government for India with Dominion Status. In 1900, he was a member of the [[Madras Legislative Council]]. His official life from 1908 to 1921 interrupted his activities as a free political worker. In 1928, he was the President of the Indian Central Committee to co-operate with the [[Simon Commission]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Gautam Sharma|title=Nationalisation of the Indian Army, 1885–1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=siDiyYi8k74C&pg=PA113|access-date=11 June 2012|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-81-7023-555-2|page=113}}</ref> The Committee prepared a well-argued report asking for [[Dominion#India, Pakistan and Bangladesh|Dominion Status for India]]. When the Viceregal announcement came granting Dominion Status as the ultimate goal for India, Sir Sankaran Nair retired from active politics. He died in 1934, aged 77.

==Relatives==
[[File:C_Sankaran_Nair.jpg|thumb|left|upright]]
Nair's eldest daughter Lady Madhavan Nair and son-in-law and nephew Sir C. Madhavan Nair (a legal luminary and a judge of the Privy Council) lived on a large estate known as Lynwood, in Chennai. Within this property, in the area now known as Lady Madhavan Nair colony/Mahalinagapuram, is situated near the Ayappan-Guruvayoorappan temple, the land for which was donated by Lady Madhavan Nair. There are still many roads bearing names of the house – Lynwood avenue – and of the children of Sir and Lady Nair – Palat Narayani Amma road, Palat Sankaran Nair road, Palat Madhavan Nair road. He also had eight more children, among which another daughter - Saraswathy Amma - was married to the eminent diplomat [[K. P. S. Menon]]. His son [[R. M. Palat]] was also a noted politician by himself.

[[KP Candeth|Lt General Candeth]], a war hero and the liberator of [[Goa]], was another of Sir Sankaran Nair's grandsons.<ref>{{cite book|title=Autobiography of Sir C. Sankaran Nair|url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofs00sirc|year=1966|publisher=Lady Madhavan Nair}}</ref>

His nephew, [[V.M.M Nair]], is the oldest surviving ICS Officer in India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.whispersinthecorridors.com/detail/38747-V-M-M-Nair,-India%E2%80%99s-oldest-ICS-officer%E2%80%99s-100th-birthday-on-Oct-8|title=V M M Nair, India’s oldest ICS officer’s 100th birthday on Oct 8 {{!}}{{!}} Whispersinthecorridors|website=www.whispersinthecorridors.com|access-date=6 December 2019}}</ref>

Sankaran Nair's grand-nephew (niece Ammukutty Amma's son) was [[K. K. Chettur]], an [[Indian Civil Service|ICS]] officer who also served as India's first ambassador to Japan. He was the father of [[Jaya Jaitly]], a politician and socialist, whose husband Ashok Jaitly was chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir. Jaya's daughter Aditi is married to the former cricketer [[Ajay Jadeja]].

Another grand-nephew of Sankaran Nair's was [[P. P. Narayanan|P.P. Narayanan]] (son of Chettur Narayanan Nair), a distinguished world trade unionist and leader in Malaysia (Morais 1984, introductory pages).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morais|first=John Victor 1910-|url=http://103.5.180.193/kip/Record/uum.b10025157|title=P.P. Narayanan a world trade unionist : a biography|date=1985|publisher=Unik Printguide}}</ref>

==References==
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{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* [https://archive.org/details/gandhianarchy00sankuoft ''Gandhi and Anarchy'' (1922)]. Archive.org. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.

{{Indian National Congress Presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, C. Sankaran}}
[[Category:Presidents of the Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Indian knights]]
[[Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:People from Kerala]]
[[Category:Advocates General for Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Madras Legislative Council]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of the Governor General of India]]

C. Sankaran Nair - Revision history

UpdateBot at 23:29, 2 May 2022