Chaudhari Hyder Husein

Early Life

Chaudhari Hyder Husein was born at Bhilwal in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh on 24 December 1890. He completed his schooling from Church Mission High School, Lucknow. He was highly educated and studied at various colleges including M.A.O. College, Aligarh; Oxford University and Trinity College, Dublin.

He received an M.A. in art followed by a law degree. He studied at Lincoln’s Inn and was called to be a barrister in London. Later, he moved back to India, enrolled himself at the Allahabad High Court. From a video, about a house that Husein built, we know that he trained under Mirza Sami Ullah Beg Saheb and A.P. Sen. Husein, set up his practise in Lucknow and went on to become a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India.

Role in India’s Independence Movement

Not much is known about Husein’s involvement in the freedom struggle except that he was a member of the U.P. Legislative Assembly in 1937.

Contribution to Constitution Making

Husein was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces through a Congress Party ticket. He did not actively participate in the Assembly debates. Husein made only one speech.

Contributions Post-Independence

Husein was elected as a member of the Provincial Parliament of Indian and later the Lok Sabha (1952-1957). He was a part of the Parliamentary delegation to Russia when he was a member of the First Lok Sabha.

In the 1957 Lok Sabha elections, Husein lost to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He then left active politics for a career in civil society that included the Indian Council of World Affairs, the Social Service League and the Samaj Sewa Sangh, Lucknow. He contributed to various charitable and educational institutions and founded the Rotary Club, Lucknow.

Husein spent his time of leisure in agriculture related activities.

Key Writings

Husein published various articles that included ‘A unified Code for India’, ‘The Hindu Code’, ‘The Avadh Bar’, ‘Kashmir’ and ‘Lessons from the General Elections of 1951’.