Mahamana as a Lawyer

Malaviyaji's active participation in activities of the Indian National Congress, his first speech in the Calcutta Session in 1886 and his organizing capacity during the Allahabad Session in 1888 had endeared him to many well wishers like A.O. Hume, Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Pandit Ajudhia Nath, Sir Sundar Lal (both leaders of the Bar) and Raja Rampal Singh of Kalakankar. They believed that the young man would be an asset to Congress and took special interest in his progress. They felt that the legal profession would add to his stature, as it was regarded as the most respected and noblest profession. Many congress leader of the time were lawyers and a career in public life or journalism was incomplete without knowledge of the law. Therefore they persuaded him to study law. Malaviyaji began to study law in 1889 and passed the LLB examination in 1891.

Malaviyaji started his practice in the District Court in 1891 and in the Allahabad High Court from 1893. Very soon he rose to eminence in his profession. Among other leading advocates of the time were Sir Sundar Lal, Pt Motilal Nehru, Satish Chandra Banerji, and Dr. Tej Bahadur Sapru. His fame spread quickly and he had a very lucrative practice. Many of the cases argued by Malaviyaji found entry in the Indian Law Reporter from as early as 1895, after merely two years of practice in the High Court.

In 1912, Malaviyaji appeared with two other eminent lawyers, Tej Bahadur Sapru and Satish Chandra Banerjee, in an appeal (No. 249 of 1910 from Moradabad district) and won against Sir Sundar Lal, who was a very respected and senior lawyer of the Allahabad High Court, and was being assisted by Motilal Nehru. Justice P.C. Piggot observed "We have had the advantage of having the question of law argued out at length with an assistance of an array of counsel on both sides exceptionally well qualified, if I may take the liberty of saying so, to assist the court in arriving at a correct conclusion." Another case, where Malaviyaji and Sir Sundar Lal were the opposing lawyers, was acclaimed as a 'marvelous display of legal learning and subtle logic' by the judges as both of them cited a large number of Sanskrit authorities to support their argument.

The The Rani of Sherkot case was a remarkable brief which made Malaviyaji famous and also rich. He could pay off all outstanding debts and renovate his ancestral house in Allahabad in elegant style. He was in great demand as a lawyer and his practice was on the rise from 1893 to 1908 the year, when he decided to give more time for his work to his mission of establishing the Banaras Hindu University than to his law practice.