On 27th of February, 2005, SattaKadir is organising twin events at New Woodlands Hotel, Chennai - 4. They are the official launching of the Website of SattaKadir, the law and human rights journal (www.sattakadir.com) and the presentation of awards for best law books in Tamil.

Hon'ble Justice K.G.Balakrishnan, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, will preside and present the awards. Hon'ble Justice AR.Lakshmanan, Supreme Court of India will launch the Website and deliver the keynote address. Hon'ble K.Venkatapathy, Union Minister of State for Law, Government of India will deliver the special address.

Padmashree Dr.Nalli Kuppusamy Chetty, Chairman, Nalli Silks, Chennai, Thiru A.Natarajan, Member, Central Board of Film Certification, Former Director, Doordarshan, Chennai, Dr.P.Jagadeesan, Former Vice-Chancellor, Bharatidasan University, Trichy, Professor A.Kanagaraj, Chairman, Jaya Educational Trust, Chennai will felicitate.

The event would begin with a music programme at 10:30 am, followed by the main event at 11:00 am.

The evening of 27th of July, 2004 was not just another evening in Chennai as something special happened at the Russian Cultural Centre Auditorium located in the Kasturi Rangan Iyar Road near Hotel Chola. It was an evening to remember as bigwigs and top guns of legal fraternity descended there to witness the unfolding of a new book written by Dr. V.R.S. Sampath, a very well known personality in the legal,literary, journalistic and social service circles of chennai city.

The Russian Cultural Centre Auditorium looked the same on the outside, but on the inside the stage of the auditorium had been artistically decorated for the evening. It looked wonderful and rich. Gentle music wafted down to elevate the moods of each and everyone present. The ambience was perfect and the setting grand for the occasion of the evening.

Right after 5:30pm that evening well wishers, readers, subscribers of Sattakadir (the law and human rights journal in Tamil language) and friends colleagues of Dr. V.R.S. Sampath began arriving one b one and were greeted and treated to snacks and tea at the reception. Top judges and leading lawyers and many eminent personalities began arriving at the venue. All of them were there to witness the release of a wonderful new book "Law and society" written by Dr. V.R.S. Sampath and also to participate in the seminar on judicial tamil. Dr.Sampath waited at the entrance of the auditorium to receive each of them personally to express his love, appreciation and thanks for responding to his invitation.

Mr. Gandhi, a well known senior Advocate of Madras High Court, a well wisher of Sattakadir journal and a very close friend of Dr.V.R.S. Sampath joined him to receive the guests. Dr. Tan Seri Dato Somasundaram, the chairperson of National Cooperative Society for finance and land from Malaysia arrivd to honour the function and to receive the first book from the chief guest. He was joyously received by one and all. Finally the Chief Guest Dr.K.V. Venkatapathy, the Minister of State for Law, Government of India arrived to the jubilation of everyone assembled at the entrance. Wit his arrival, the faces of those waiting for him lit up to add glow to the evening. Dr.Sampath, Mr.Gandhi and other important people received him warmly and led him to the stage.

With the rendering of the prayer song sung in honour of Tamil language the events of the celebrated evening unfolded. Mr.T.K.S. Villalan, the co-ordinator of the programme, invited Dr.V.R.S. Sampath to welcome the august gathering. The stage was lit with the academic brilliance of the guests on the stage. All of them an authority in their respective fields by sheer dint of merit, achievements and contributions. And surely it was an evening of heavy weights, big wigs and top gunes. A rare spectacle worth remembering.

The list runs thus: Chief Guest Mr. K.V. Venkatapathy, the Minister of State for Law, Government of India. A scholarly man, well known for his brilliance in Tamil poetry and an advocate by profession.

Honourable Justice Thiru A.K.Rajan, a senior Professor of law and the ex-law secretary to the Government who once taught at the Madras Law College who has many disciples to his credit in the likeness of Dr.Sampath, Dr.Kannan and so on.

Tan Seri Dato' Dr.K.R. Somasundaram, Executive Chairman, National Land Finance Co-operative Society, Kualalumpur, Malaysia. A very well known national leader in Malaysia for active service to the poor and needy and a champion of tamil language.

Dr.Mrs. Nagbhushanam, the first vice-chancellor of Dr.Ambedkar Law University and a Professor of Law who has groomed many budding lawyers.

Dr.Henry Thiagarajan, founder and President of Human Rights Education movement in India, President of World Association of former UN Interns, recepient of UN rewad for his work in Human righs and recepient of National award and a mentor to many in the field of human rights.

Dr.R.Kannan, the UN officer from Cyprus and a former student of Justice A.K.Rajan.

Dr.Naganathan, Professor and Head of the Department of Economics of Madras University.

Dr.Balasubramanian, Former Member, Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

Mr.G.Masilamani, Senior Advocate of Madras High Court. A leading figure in legal fraternity known for his eloquence and brilliance.

Prof. R.V. Dhanapalan, Chairperson, Central Law College, Salem. A former professor of Madras Law College, a teacher and a guide to many aspiring advocates.

Prof. A. Kanagaraj, Educationist and Chairperson of Jaya group of institutions.

Dr.M.Muthuvel, Professor, Government Law College, Chennai.

Dr.Sampath welcomed every dignitary on the stage and honoured all of them with the traditional welcome of ponnadai (unfurling a thin silk cloth over the shoulders of the guest). It was a long list and lot of action went with it. In his welcome address, he mentioned abut the use of local language in the High Court in Calcutta and in other places along with English and requested the same privilege to be extended to the Madras High Court also, so that Tamil can be used for the benefit of many.

Honourable Justice Thiru A.K.Rajan presided over the function. The Honourable Minister of State for Law Mr.K.Venkatapathy released the book "Law and Society" written by Dr.V.R.S. Sampath and Tan Seri Dato Dr.R.Somansundaram, Executive Chairman, National Land Finance Co-operative society, Kualalumpur, Malaysia, received the first copy from the Honourable Minister.

After this event, the seminar began on Legal Tamil and the speakers came one after the other to speak on the topic and also to congratulate Dr.Sampath for his untiring contribution to Tamil language and legal literacy through his law and human rights journal Sattakadir for the past 13 years.

Dr. M.Muthuvel in his speech recollected the development of Tamil in the field of Law over the years and stressed the need for more research articles and books in the field.

Dr.Henry Thiagarajan, the president of Human Rights Education movement in India, congratulated Dr.Sampath for his achivements and how his contribution to the society through his journal has been of help to man. He highlighted the difficulties of the poor in the rural areas and requested the Minister and the judges to look into the possibilty for the formation of a Judical Reforms Commission to take measures for the speedy disposal of cases.

Dr.R.Kannan (the UN officer from Cyprus) in his address analysed Dr.Sampath's book "Law and Society" and paid glowing tributes to the efforts of Dr.Sampath. He praised him for his courage and vision found in his editorials. He said much of what Dr.Sampath has said has to be accepted in the society, as they are relevant today. He also made a note on the prophetic editorials that have come to be true. He specially reflected the viewpoint of Dr.Sampath expressed in an editorial with regard to the dropping of the name of Dr.Ambedkar either for Madras Law College or for the Law University, Madras as one of them could retain the old name as it is quite irrelevant to have same for both the institutions. He gave a quick run through and a critical analysis of the book and requested Dr.Sampath to add depth to his editorials by researching more as it can help those who may take up research.

Dr.Balasubramaniyam, former member of Tamil Nadu Public service commission, spoke at lenght about the services rendered to Tamil language and the field of law by Satta Kadir Journal and requested the judges to be vigilant so that justice could be delivered without any favour or malice. He lauded the efforts of Dr.V.R.S.Sampath in trying to promote legal literacy through his journal.

Dr.M.Naganathan, Professor and the head of the department of Economics of Madras University, echoed this. He also expressed his views on constitutional review, Judicial review and the rights of states.

Thiru R.Gandhi, a leading advocate, in his address praised Dr.Sampath for contribution to Tamil through his law and human rights journal Satta Kadir and explained how the journal has been of help to many. He requested the Law Minister to consider analysing the possibility of granting subsidy for Sattakadir as it is doing a remarkable service to the people of Tamil Nadu and Tamil language and the downtrodden people. He also requested that government to place advertisements in Sattakadir for the benefit of the general public.

Prof R.V.Dhanapalan, the Chairperson of Central Law College, Salem praised Dr.Sampath's contribution to Tamil language through his law and human rights journal, Sattakadir. He explained how the efforts of Sattakadir have helped many in the rural areas. He encouraged Dr.Sampath to go on to achieve even more and serve the Tamil society and Judiciary even more.

Thiru G.Masilamani, Senior Advocate of Madras High Court, congratulated Dr.Sampath on his achievements in successfully publishing the Law and human rights journal Sattakadir for the past 13 years without any break despite hardships and no prospects of any big financial gains. He explained the difficulties that one would have to face in publishing a magazine or a newspaper and brought out the history of Swadasamitran newspaper to highlight the difficulties. He marvelled at the courage of Dr.V.R.S.Sampath in continuing to publish Sattakadir inspite of all the difficulties. He gave reasons as to why Tamil should also be a court language in addition to English. He also informed the assembled about the provision that exists in the constitution to allow Tamil to be used in the Madras High Court. He requested the minister to look into the same to make it possible. He commended Dr.Sampath for his untiring efforts and wished him well in all his endeavours.

Dr.Nagashubhanam, the former Vice-chancellor of Tamil Nadu Ambedkar Law Univerisity, talked in length and breadth about the use of Tamil in Judiciary and praised the contribution of Sattakadir to Judiciary. The people of Tamil NAdu and to Tamil Language. He also recalled the efforts of Dr.Sampath that always benefited others. She recalled the efforts of Dr.Sampath that brought about a landmark judgement which helped many practicing advocates to pursue Doctorate Degrees and achieve them too.

Tan Seri Dato Dr.R.Somansundaram in his address expressed his keen desire to see the full development of Tami as court language. He appreciated the work of Sattakadir. Dato Sagadeven also appreciated the development of Sattakadir and service to the Tamil society at large.

Prof. Kanagaraj explained how law and society are inseparable and how laws hsould be brought out for the development of society. He also expressed his desire to support Sattakadir through his trust.

The Union Minister of State for Law, Honourable Venkatapathy in his address enthralled the gathering with the eloquence and eas with Tamil poetry. He explained the richness of Tamil language and said that it handled judicial proceedings much longer than any other language in the world and that its vocabulary is rich and capable of handling cases of today. He requested the enlightened to strive to serve the ordinary people of Tamil Nadu by arguing the cases in Tamil in the courts. He explained how the ordinary people would be benefitted if Tamil is used widely in the courts. He assured the assembled that he would certainly do all that he could well within the framework to help Sattakadir to get some financial support and other related matters.

Hounourable Justice Mr. A.K. Rajan in his address detailed the richness and the compactness of expression of Tamil language and requested the assembled advocates and connected people to use correct translation for English words and phrases while with cases. He requested those involved in translations to take care while translating material from English to Tamil to produce correct meaning. He narrated an incident how he took pains to provde an accurate translation to a phrase taking the context into account while he was the Law Secretary to the Government. He thanked Dr.Sampath for his untiring efforts to promote legal education through his law and human rights journal Sattakadir and wished him success in his endeavours.

The Minister alwo felicitated Ms.S. Rajalakshmi, Mr.Pagalavan Sethu, Mr.Kathiravan and Mr.Edwin with ponnadai for helping to bring out the book "Law and Society". This was a noble gesture from Dr.V.R.S. Sampath to honour those who worked hard to bring out the book.

Like stars of the sky, the auditorium was filled with distinguished guests that included retired judges Justice Marudamthu, Justice Samidurai, Advocate Natarajan, Wife of Dinakaran Newspaper Founder Mrs. Mallika, Ex MLA Mr.Parthsarathy, Advocates Mr.Punyakoti, Mr.Meenakshi Sundaram, Deivasigamani, Retired Chief Engineer of EB, Mr.Palaniappan, Ex MLA Mr.J.C.T. Prabakharan, Madurai University Professor Mr.Ramasamy, Member of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Mr.Perumal, Mr.Ram Mohan of Congress party and other important dignitaries attended this function.

Greeting were also received from the following persons:

Arnold Swarznegar, Governor of California, USA
Former Judge of Madras High Court, Justice Mr.Jegadeesan
Leader of Dravidar Kazhagam, Mr.K. Veeramani
Padmasri Nalli Kuppusami Chetty
Advocate Mr.Natanasabhapathy
Mr.Raja Jayaraman, Professor, Sydney University, Australia
Mr.Soosai Benjamin, Australian Labour Party dignitary
Mr.Sher, Social Worker, England
Mr.Nasser Ahamed, USA
Ms.Kiran, Italy
Dr.Singha, USA
Mr.Chokkalingam, Australia
Former Director of Collegiate Education, Madras - Mr.Victor
Mr.Kishore Kumar and friends, Chidambaram
Mr.V.Raza Narayanan, Indian Society of Authors - Chennai Chapter

The meeting was glorious throughout and provided food for thought to all those who had assembled. In a way it was a meeting of teachers and students coming together after many years. It was a day of reunion when each one praised and complimented the other. A truly wonderful sight to cherish for years to come. The meeting went long and as late as 9:30pm or so but everyone enjoyed it well as the speakers kept them audience spellbound. Finally it was time to say goodbye and thanks and Mr.T.K.S. Vilalan proposed vote of thanks to each and every one and the meeting came to a close with the singing of National Anthem.