R. Venkataraman’s career as a lawyer was prolific. He was enrolled in the High court of Madras in 1935, after obtaining a degree in law from the Law College of Madras and later in the Supreme Court.
It was while he was practicing law that Venkataraman was attracted towards India’s freedom struggle.
R. Venkataraman’s interest in the law continued even after his involvement with the freedom movement. Especially, he developed an abiding interest in labour laws. Meanwhile, Venkataraman was arrested and jailed for participating in the Quit India movement.
In 1946, when the transfer of power from British to Indian hands was imminent, R. Venkataraman was included in the panel of lawyers who were given the task of defending Indian nationals in Malaya and Singapore who were charged with collaboration during the Japanese occupation of the two places.
During the years from 1947 to 1950, Venkataraman also served as secretary of the Madras Provincial Bar Federation. Subsequently, in 1949, he founded the Labour Law Journal that was soon acknowledged as a specialist journal. He edited the journal till 1957.
R. Venkataraman was an integral part of the trade union movements, in Tamil Nadu, especially of unions for plantation workers, estate staff, dock-workers, railway workers and working journalists.
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