[1930 - November 11, 2016]
Early Life
Sir Mota Singh was born in Nairobi, Kenya in the year 1930. It was at the age of 16 that he lost his father Dalip Singh. His father was badly wounded and stabbed to death while he was trying to save the life of an Indian woman. As a result of the early demise of Sardar Dalip Singh, he became the sole provider of his family which constituted his five siblings, a widowed mother, and his grandfather.
He had no choice but to abandon his studies as he had to fetch bread and butter for the family. His school teachers knew that he was an academically gifted child and thus convinced his family to allow him to complete his matriculation. The finance for his education was undertaken by the staff of his school.
Career
For a short period, he worked as a clerk for the East African Railways and Harbours. He soon got a clerical job with a European firm of legal counselors in Nairobi.
Meanwhile, he was married to Swaran Kaur in 1950 and was blessed with a daughter in 1951. While he spent the day earning for his family, he spent his nights pursuing his bar studies. In 1953 he set out on his journey to England to complete his Bar studies. In England, Mota Singh took up a job at the Indian High Commission. He successfully passed his Bar Examinations in 1955. After having passed the Bar exams he returned to Kenya.
Back in Kenya, he started to work as a Barrister in Nairobi and soon earned recognition in Nairobi.
As a lawyer and skilled public speaker, he was encouraged to enter politics. He was elected first as a City Councilor and afterward raised to the bearings of Alderman of the City of Nairobi.
Despite achieving such an exceptional record in just six years since he began his practice at the Bar in Nairobi, where he also saw even more promising prospects, Mota Singh chose to immigrate to England in 1965 to practice law at the English bar. His challenge's scope became apparent quickly. He was forced to look for new employment after six months of unsuccessfully attempting to get a tenancy in chambers. He accepted and acknowledged a proposal to be an in-house legal advisor to a public property organization. Eventually, he secured a tenancy at 1 Mitre Court, Middle Temple, where he began to practice law.
Mota Singh's first appearance in the English Court:
Mota Singh's most memorable brief, from his sibling Manmohan Singh, was to represent an Englishman accused of a driving drunk offense, which he successfully defended alongside his brother. No turbaned advocate had at any point been found in an English court till then. Mota Singh's appearance caused a lot of commotion and pulled in the English press at large. The court was loaded with them and with different lawyers to observe the most uncommon scene in an English court.
The crowd eagerly anticipated whether the judge would dismiss Mota Singh's case because he was wearing a turban rather than a wig. The Judge brought up no criticism. Mota Singh was at his best in court and won the case. The next day, all the newspapers flooded with the headline "The Barrister in turban wins case". The case was additionally widely reported and published in different nations. It was the foundation of Mota Singh's impression at the English Bar. He soon started to receive a lot of admiration and honor from the Englishmen.
In 1982 Mota Singh was delegated as a Circuit Judge, the first appointment from the Sikh community. In later years, Judge Mota Singh was named by The Lord Chancellor as one of the four Judges at the Southwark Crown Court, out of a sum of sixteen occupant Judges there, to try serious fraud cases. He turned out to be the Deputy Presiding Judge at Southwark Crown Court. He retired from the bench in 2002.
As a religious devout:
As a dedicated Sikh, he said the Kirtan Sohela night prayer. He would then rise at two in the morning to take a bath before reciting the Japji Sahib which would be followed by his yoga routine. After 45 years of continued participation with the Southfields Gurdwara, he realized that the institution need a new, more democratic rule of administration. A new constitution was ordered by him and put into effect under his direction. Later, other gurdwaras adopted the document.
Achievements:
In colonial Kenya in the 1960s, all the authoritative and administrative posts were held solely by the Englishmen until this was broken by Mota Singh in 1961. In that year, he was selected as the first non-English man as the Secretary of the Law Society of Kenya. He was also a trustee of charitable firms which also including Barnado's, the Windsor Leadership Trust, and the Democracy Forum.
In 2012 he was granted knighthood and the honorific of ‘Sir’ for his charity work and his services to the legal profession. Henceforth, he was Sir Mota Singh.
Other honors bestowed upon him included the following appointments:
* Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Society
* Secretary of the Council of Legal Education
* Vice President of Justice, a body affiliated with the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva
* Arbitrator involving Kenya Government, Local Government, and Private Organisation disputes
* A panel member involved in drafting legislation for Kenya Parliamentary Elections on a Common Franchise following a Round Table Conference in London
* Chairman of School Governors
* Trustee of various sports and charitable organizations
He was selected by the then Home Secretary as one of the twelve statutory members of the Board and served it for 11 years till 1978. He was additionally appointed by The Lord Chancellor as an Examiner of the Supreme Court and then Chairman of the London Rent Assessment Committees.
In 1978, Mota Singh took "silk," implying that he was delegated Queen's Counsel ("QC"). 'Silks' are senior lawyers who have succeeded themselves at the Bar and once so named can, hypothetically, be called upon by the Queen to direct her on crucial and administrative matters.
In 1982 Mota Singh was selected as a Circuit Judge, it was the first appointment from the SIKH community. What was more important, it was for the first time in the English Judicial history that a judge on the English bench would be wearing a turban rather than a pony hair hairpiece. He was the first Sikh on the English Bench.
Some of his other additional positions in England include:
* Member of the Attorney General's Race Advisory Committee
* Chairman of the Statutory Disciplinary Committee of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
* Trustee of The Windsor Leadership Trust
* Trustee of the Ethnic Minority Foundation
* Vice President of Doctor Barnado's Home
* Chairman of Guru Nanak Education Trust
* Chairman of Sikh Federation
* Chairman of the European Section of the World Sikh Council
Not one to rest on his laurels after he retired, Sir Mota Singh stayed active in the community lending his name to philanthropic causes. Sir Mota Singh passed away at the age of 86. He will continue to be a trailblazer, a fine spokesperson for the Sikh community.