KOCHI: Once a quiet suburban neighbourhood in Kakkanad, Judgemukku is now a bustling corner littered with shops and businesses and a flurry of traffic. No passage through this locality is without thoughts meandering as to why the place got such a peculiar name. A creole of Judge and mukku (which means corner). TNIE paid a visit to learn how the place got its name.
“The area is known as Judge Mukku because a high court judge once lived here,” say all the shopkeepers. Surprisingly, the name is relatively new when compared to other neighbourhoods nearby.
“It was in the 1960s. Then, Justice P T Raman Nayar, the chief justice of Kerala High Court, was staying in this area. He moved subsequently. His residence today is now a convent,” reveals P M Younus, the local councillor.
“Raman sir bought an identity to what was otherwise an obscure corner of Thrikkakara,” says Balachandran, a local resident. “He was such a decorative and erudite person,” the 73-year-old adds.
Who is Justice Raman Nayar? Justice P T Raman Nayar, who hails from Palakkad, is the only Indian civil service officer to be nominated as a judge (in 1957). He later went on to become the chief justice of the Kerala High Court.
Among his notable rulings include the liquidation of the Pala Central Bank in 1960 and the acquittal of Catholic priest Fr Benedict Onamkulum in the Maria Kutty murder case. His commission of inquiry reports into the Andhra rice deal, considered as the first allegation of corruption against the ruling government in 1958, had a butterfly effect which eventually saw the fall of the EMS government.
“We all looked at him with reverence. A man of his statute living among us was a matter of pride,” reminisces Balachandran.
“He was a man of law. He treated everyone as equal. For that, he detached himself from the public and had little interaction with us. Still, he is such an eminent personality who has such a commanding aura that compels any person to revere him,” he adds.
It’s unclear when chief justice Raman Nayar started living here, but elders in the region recall seeing him during the late 1960s and early 1970s. “If I’m not wrong, he later moved and settled in Coorg,” Balachandran says.
Despite his departure, the place continues to be known by him. Today, Judge Mukku, equidistant from the Ernakulam Collectorate, the Thrikkakara temple, and the Suburban Club, is one of the vibrant zones in the city.
What’s in a name
Weekly column on the history of place names. Got any suggestions? Write to xpresskochi@gmail.com