A new book talks of IM Lall, the ICS officer who defied the British Empire and won a case against it

Inder Mohan resided in several different cities, including Lahore and Ambala. He served as sessions judge from 1929 and was made permanent in July 1934.

Life as children of an ICS officer was nothing less than royalty. The ICS consisted largely of Englishmen coming over from England to rule the country. Hence, the lifestyle of the Indian ICS officers was also royal, and they too developed, so to say, English habits. Inder Mohan hosted elaborate parties, no different from those hosted by the colonial rulers, where all the children dressed up. The house had the normal ICS standard staff consisting of seven to eight servants, a chef, an assistant chef and two bearers. This staff would regularly help in hosting parties for 15 to 20 guests, or more, for a formal sit-down dinner. Owing to a shortage of other sources of entertainment at the time, the only leisure activities in a small town were either a visit to the club where one could play bridge or sports, like tennis and billiards, or attending house parties. Visits to each other’ homes for parties were also a norm, with the attendees being more or less the same. After all, there were only a few...

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