Part 1

Seth Duni Chand Aggarwal;

Kapil Dev Aggarwal s/o SH Raj Kumar Aggarwal s/o SH Mela Ram Aggarwal S/o of Duni Chand S/o of Sh Harjas Rai S/o of Krori Mal S/O SH Ram Dass s/o Sh Asa Ram s/o of Sh Khushal Chand S/O SH Jat Mal. Great Grandfather Seth Duni Chand Aggarwal prominent landlord and farmer in Village Bhiki Khatran district Ludhiana near present day Khanna (Punjab), India. Sh Duni Chand Aggarwal s/o SH Harjas Rai had one brother SH Dittu Mal. Sh Duni Chand had five sons and a daughter. Names of his sons were Ram Krishan Aggarwal, Khushi Ram Aggarwal, Prabhdayal Aggarwal, Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal, & Nagina Mal Aggarwal. Name of daughter was ‘…A’. Sh Ram Krishan Aggarwal had three sons;- Gujjar Mal, Nathu Ram and Bhagwan Dass, Khushi Ram Aggarwal had two sons;- Ramji Dass and Pyare lal (see link Pyare Lal), Prabhdayal Aggarwal had three sons; Manohar Lal, Amrit Rai and Des Raj of Kasuli Provision Store. Name of grandson of ‘..’ were Niranjan Prasad, Madan Gopal & others. Sons of Nagina Mal were Hem Raj, Dr Megh Raj, Dev Raj, Raghu Raj, Names of daughters were Satya (Sangrur), Kamla (married at Agra 1944 in Charan Family), Urmila (Bijnor). Names of sons of Sister ‘A’ were Harbans.

Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal; 1884-1960

A. Early life and education;

Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal is fourth son of Seth Duni Chand Aggarwal and was born in the year 1884. Sh Mela Ram Aggarwal shifted to Lahore in the year 1901 for the purpose of higher education and completed BA in the year 1903 from Government College Lahore. He did M.A. English in the year 1905 from Govt. College, Lahore. Sh Mela Ram Aggarwal later did LL.B. From Law College Lahore in 1908 and got his license to practice as a lawyer in year 1908. During this period Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal lived with Lala Lajpat Rai at Congress Bhawan, Lahore which was at that point located at Bradley house Lahore and thus come into close contact with all Congress leaders of that time.

B. Marriage;

Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal married at an early age when he was 15 years old to younger sister of Lala Lajpat Rai and daughter of Munshi Radha Krishan Azad and Smt Gulab Devi. From his 1st wife he had a son named Kulwant Rai. His first wife died at a young age and lala Mela Ram Aggarwal married Lajwanti grand mother of Kapil Dev Aggarwal in the year 1912. From Lajwanti, Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal had nine children i.e. Six daughters and 3 sons.The names of the daughters were Prakash, Shakuntla, Lakshmi, Raj Kumari, Padma and Satya. The names of his sons are Raj Kumar Aggarwal, Rajinder Aggarwal and Rajeshwar Aggarwal.

C. Family;

1. Eldest Daughter Prakash (1913-1974) was married in 1933 to Kundan Lalji son of Rai Saheb Jai Chand. They have three sons namely; Suresh, Omesh and Romesh and eldest daughter Shashi (deceased). 
2nd daughter Shakuntla ( ). She was married in 1939 to Tek Chandji and have six children namely Kanwalesh, Bimalesh, Santosh, Padam, Daughters; Saroj and Veena, 
3rd Daughter Luxmi (1921-24.11.1984). She was married in 1943 to Sant Ramji and have five children namely, sons: Vinay and Vijay and daughters; Asha, Usha and Guddi.
4th Daughter Raj Kumari (1922-2010) was married in 1944 to Sh Pyra Lalji and names of their children are Avinash, Subash and Anita. 
5th Daughter Padma (22.9.1923-3.6.1970) was married in 1946 to Ravinder Kishore S/O Rai Bahadur Chiranji Lal and names of their children are Alka (deceased), Manik and Vipul Kishore. 
Sixth Daughter Satya (1927-24.5.1974) was married in 1948 to Justice Jagmendar Dass Jain. They have five children namely Paritosh, Pardeep Anil and daughters Aruna and Anita. 
Eldest Son is Raj Kumar Aggarwal born 18.4.1924 was married in the year 1954 to Sushila Devi daughter of Seth Girdhari Lal Banker Son of Ram Rattan Banker Son of Lala Rura Mal Banker of  Ludhiana. He has two children, daughter Renu and son Kapil Dev Aggarwal. 
2nd son Rajinder Aggarwal ( 1930-feb 1972) was married in the year June 21, 1965 to Kamal. They have two daughters Mala and Bela. 
Third son Rajeshwar Aggarwal ( 19.7.1932-11.1.1994)  was married in the year 8 July, 1962 to Darshana. He has three children, Son Ashish Aggarwal, daughters Madhu & Smiley.

D. Professional and social life;

Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal after doing his Masters in English in 1905 became law graduate in the year 1908 and took his license to practice. He started his practice in Lahore in the year 1908. After death of his 1st wife Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal shifted to Ludhiana in 1912. At Ludhiana he built his own house at B-8 Mojpura Road, Ludhiana. This house was built by Lala Mela Ram Ji in the year 1924. The house was second highest building in Ludhiana, first being Clock Tower. It remained one of the tallest buildings of Ludhiana till it was sold off in the year 1978. He was also the first advocate to buy a Car namely Chevrolet in the year 1928. He remained President of District Congress Committee and also President of Ludhiana Municipality.

In the meantime Lahore High Court had come into being by the letters patent Act of 1919. However it was under his Majesty. The Government of India Act, 1935 made radical changes in the Constitution and powers of the various High Courts in British India. Inter-alia the new Act provided that the Judges would hold office during good behavior, whereas previously they held office during His Majesty's pleasure. The High Court become more effective tool for justice. Accordingly Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal shifted his practice back to Lahore High Court in the year 1935. In Lahore the family took on rent a big villa at 6, Muzang Road, Lahore. It was built on an area little more than 80,000 sq feet, and separate stable for horses as our family had horse driven carriages. The Villa at Lahore was taken on @ the then monthly rental of Rs 250/- in the year 1935. Because of social and financial status of Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal he was always the 1st candidate for being appointed as a High Court Judge. When Mr. Justice Sir John Douglas Young the then Chief Justice of Lahore High Court; told Sh Mela Ram Aggarwal that he wishes to appoint him to the Chair, Lala Mela Ram said; “It is better to speak ‘nonsense’ for two hours in a day and then relax in the Sun rather than hear ‘nonsense’ for whole day every day” and there was additional issue of that a High Court was to take salary from British Government which Sh Mela Ram Aggarwal never wanted.

E Partition and death;

After Partition of India, the High Court of East Punjab was established at Peteroff in Simla. The family lived in a bunglow opposite Hotel Cecil, The Mall, Simla. In 1948 his eldest son Raj Kumar Aggarwal joined the Law office at Simla. Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal practiced in Simla from 1948-1955.

In 1955, the new High Court of East Punjab was established at Chandigarh. Lala Mela Ram Aggarwal advocate was one of the two founder Vice president of Punjab High Court Bar Association. The Chandigarh Administration allotted to him House No 112 Sector 9 Chandigarh measuring 25000 sq feet. Two other sons of Mela Ram Aggarwal were not interested to settle in Chandigarh and hence the allotment of house No 112, Sector 9 was not accepted. He opted for a Government accommodation in sector 23 where he died peacefully on 22nd December 1960.

High Court, Peterhoff, Simla, presently a Hotel

END OF PART I.

Note by Author;

Author shall be grateful to anyone who can fill in the gaps or tell whereabouts of Sh Kulwant Rai the eldest son of Sh Mela Ram Aggarwal or make corrections if any on facts.