[1] C. M. Stephen was born on 23 December 1918 to Eapen Mathai and Esther of Chembakassery house in Cherukole, Mavelikkara.

During his school days, Stephen was active in the Balajanasakhyam (promoted by Malayala Manorama).

[2] He was a close associate of veteran Congress leaders P. T. Chacko, Pattom Thanu Pillai and R. Sankar and provided leadership in the Vimochana Samaram during 1958-59 period as an associate of P. T. Chacko, Pattom Thanu Pillai, R. Sankar and others.

Shashi Tharoor in his 'India: From Midnight to the Millennium' quotes Stephen's statement in Parliament that "the telephone was a luxury and not a necessity" as symptomatic of India's failure to invest in infrastructure and communications before the Reforms of 1991.

[3] Dharam Singh gave up the Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat to accommodate C. M. Stephen, the then Union Home Minister in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet, after he lost the election in Delhi to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.