THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The lawyers at Thiruvananthapuram Vanchiyoor Court look upon Celine Wilfred with much awe. Even at 86, the celebrated criminal lawyer manoeuvres the stairs of the Vanchiyoor court in her electric wheelchair to appear for her client, showcasing her grit and determination.
A former public prosecutor, Celine is looking forward to celebrating her 60th year as a lawyer in 2025. It was a chance encounter with Justice Anna Chandy, the first woman Judge in India, that became the turning point in Celine’s life.
A young Celine had met her to seek transfer from Payyannur in her role as a court clerk. Anna Chandy pointed out that a government employee must stay put in a district for three years and asked why Celine was unaware of it.
However, Celine was in no mood to relent as she wanted to remain close to her widowed mother, Angel Fernandez, in Thiruvananthapuram. “I came to meet Lord Brahma (Anna Chandy) for a solution to my problem,” Celine says.
Anna Chandy, who by then had taken a liking to the quick-witted Celine, asked her husband Wilfred Sebastian, who had accompanied her for this meeting if Celine was indeed keen to pursue law studies. Much to Anna’s surprise, in 1965, the couple joined the Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, for their law studies. Wilfred was until then a high school teacher.
“It was a challenge for me initially to take up criminal cases as it was always a male bastion. People expressed apprehension about a woman taking up such cases, and I wanted to break that jinx. Fortunately, it was a fertile area for me and continues to remain so to this day,” says Celine, who was a government pleader for 14 years.
Over the past 58 years, more than 150 junior lawyers have practised under her, including Transport Minister Antony Raju. Celine has lost track of the number of cases that she has appeared in so far. But without batting an eyelid, she recalls the most unforgettable case that she has taken up. “It was the ‘Pilla Thailam case’ where an infant boy was killed,” she says.
“The boy was getting ready for his bath after his mother had massaged oil on his body. The murderer killed the boy, took out his liver, and buried the body in a pit, hoping that it would bring him a treasure. The case, which the former Justice Sreedharan heard, has forever been etched in my memory due to the gruesome nature of the crime.”
These days, Celine is all the happier as her grandson, Wilstan Wilfred, too, has followed the family’s career path of becoming a lawyer. Celine’s son, Suresh Wilfred, is also a leading lawyer, making theirs a third-generation family of lawyers.
J Sandhya, a senior lawyer at the Vanchiyoor court, says she admires Celine for her no-nonsense attitude. “Celine Ma’am stands apart from the rest of the women lawyers,” she adds. “Even now, it’s difficult for women to come up as excellent criminal lawyers. But she cracked the male bastion and has proved her mettle as a leading criminal lawyer. The clients keep persisting her to appear for them, which shows her credibility as a leading criminal lawyer.”