M C Chagla
Encyclopedia
M. C. Chagla full name Mahommedali Currim Chagla, was a renowned Indian jurist
, diplomat
, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice
of the Bombay High Court
from 1948 to 1958.
, Oxford University, from 1919 until 1922. He then was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court
, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamsetji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan
.
Chagla idolized Jinnah and held membership in the Muslim League, but severed all ties to Jinnah after he began to work for the cause of a separate Muslim state. He, along with others, then founded the Muslim Nationalist Party in Bombay, a party which was ignored and pushed aside in the independence struggle. He was appointed as Professor of law to Government Law College, Bombay in 1927, where he worked with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He was appointed as a judge to Bombay High Court
in 1941, becoming Chief Justice in 1948 and serving in that capacity to 1958.
In 1946, Chagla was part of the first Indian delegation to the UN. From 4 October to 10 December, 1956, Chagla served as Acting Governor of the then state of Bombay, later broken up into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra
. Following his tenure as Chief Justice, he served as the one-man commission that examined the Finance Minister of India
, T.T. Krishnamachari, over the controversial Haridas Mundhra
L.I.C insurance scandal, which forced T.T. Krishnamachari's resignation as Finance Minister. Krishnamachari was quite close to Nehru and Nehru was therefore intensely angry at Chagla for his revelations of TTK's part in the affair, though he later forgave Chagla. From September 1957 to 1959, Chagla served as ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice
at The Hague
.
After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961. Chagla then served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963. Immediately on his return, he was asked to be a Cabinet Minister, which he accepted, and he served as Education Minister
from 1963 to 1966, then served as the Minister for External Affairs of India from November 1966 to September 1967, after which he left government service. He then spent the remaining years of his life actively, continuing to practice law into his seventies.
As Minister of Education under Jawaharlal Nehru
, Chagla was distraught by the quality of education in government schools:
Unfortunately, this comment remains true for Indian education even today
Mohammed Currim Chagla died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 81 of heart failure. He had been unwell for several years, and had suffered four heart attacks. True to his active and energetic nature, he had not let his health slow him down. On the day of his death, he went as usual to his club in Bombay and had a good time with his friends. He then slipped away to the dressing room and there,peacefully died. According to his wish, he was cremated instead of having a traditional Muslim burial. The Bombay High Court was closed to show respect for him, and several speeches were made in his memory, including one by a future Prime Minister
, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court itself, appropriately outside the Chief Justice's Court where once he served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:
"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."
The surname "Chagla" was not his original surname. In Chagla's autobiography, he recounted that in his youth, he was known as "Merchant" as both his father and grandfather were merchants. Hating the name due to its associations with money, he went to his grandfather one day and asked him as to what he should call himself. His grandfather promptly replied "Chagla" as his only son, Chagla's father, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi
language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.
, diplomat
, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice
of the Bombay High Court
from 1948 to 1958.
, Oxford University, from 1919 until 1922. He then was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court
, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamsetji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan
.
Chagla idolized Jinnah and held membership in the Muslim League, but severed all ties to Jinnah after he began to work for the cause of a separate Muslim state. He, along with others, then founded the Muslim Nationalist Party in Bombay, a party which was ignored and pushed aside in the independence struggle. He was appointed as Professor of law to Government Law College, Bombay in 1927, where he worked with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He was appointed as a judge to Bombay High Court
in 1941, becoming Chief Justice in 1948 and serving in that capacity to 1958.
In 1946, Chagla was part of the first Indian delegation to the UN. From 4 October to 10 December, 1956, Chagla served as Acting Governor of the then state of Bombay, later broken up into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra
. Following his tenure as Chief Justice, he served as the one-man commission that examined the Finance Minister of India
, T.T. Krishnamachari, over the controversial Haridas Mundhra
L.I.C insurance scandal, which forced T.T. Krishnamachari's resignation as Finance Minister. Krishnamachari was quite close to Nehru and Nehru was therefore intensely angry at Chagla for his revelations of TTK's part in the affair, though he later forgave Chagla. From September 1957 to 1959, Chagla served as ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice
at The Hague
.
After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961. Chagla then served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963. Immediately on his return, he was asked to be a Cabinet Minister, which he accepted, and he served as Education Minister
from 1963 to 1966, then served as the Minister for External Affairs of India from November 1966 to September 1967, after which he left government service. He then spent the remaining years of his life actively, continuing to practice law into his seventies.
As Minister of Education under Jawaharlal Nehru
, Chagla was distraught by the quality of education in government schools:
Unfortunately, this comment remains true for Indian education even today
Mohammed Currim Chagla died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 81 of heart failure. He had been unwell for several years, and had suffered four heart attacks. True to his active and energetic nature, he had not let his health slow him down. On the day of his death, he went as usual to his club in Bombay and had a good time with his friends. He then slipped away to the dressing room and there,peacefully died. According to his wish, he was cremated instead of having a traditional Muslim burial. The Bombay High Court was closed to show respect for him, and several speeches were made in his memory, including one by a future Prime Minister
, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court itself, appropriately outside the Chief Justice's Court where once he served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:
"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."
The surname "Chagla" was not his original surname. In Chagla's autobiography, he recounted that in his youth, he was known as "Merchant" as both his father and grandfather were merchants. Hating the name due to its associations with money, he went to his grandfather one day and asked him as to what he should call himself. His grandfather promptly replied "Chagla" as his only son, Chagla's father, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi
language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.
, diplomat
, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice
of the Bombay High Court
from 1948 to 1958.
, Oxford University, from 1919 until 1922. He then was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court
, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamsetji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan
.
Chagla idolized Jinnah and held membership in the Muslim League, but severed all ties to Jinnah after he began to work for the cause of a separate Muslim state. He, along with others, then founded the Muslim Nationalist Party in Bombay, a party which was ignored and pushed aside in the independence struggle. He was appointed as Professor of law to Government Law College, Bombay in 1927, where he worked with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He was appointed as a judge to Bombay High Court
in 1941, becoming Chief Justice in 1948 and serving in that capacity to 1958.
In 1946, Chagla was part of the first Indian delegation to the UN. From 4 October to 10 December, 1956, Chagla served as Acting Governor of the then state of Bombay, later broken up into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra
. Following his tenure as Chief Justice, he served as the one-man commission that examined the Finance Minister of India
, T.T. Krishnamachari, over the controversial Haridas Mundhra
L.I.C insurance scandal, which forced T.T. Krishnamachari's resignation as Finance Minister. Krishnamachari was quite close to Nehru and Nehru was therefore intensely angry at Chagla for his revelations of TTK's part in the affair, though he later forgave Chagla. From September 1957 to 1959, Chagla served as ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice
at The Hague
.
After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961. Chagla then served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963. Immediately on his return, he was asked to be a Cabinet Minister, which he accepted, and he served as Education Minister
from 1963 to 1966, then served as the Minister for External Affairs of India from November 1966 to September 1967, after which he left government service. He then spent the remaining years of his life actively, continuing to practice law into his seventies.
As Minister of Education under Jawaharlal Nehru
, Chagla was distraught by the quality of education in government schools:
Unfortunately, this comment remains true for Indian education even today
Mohammed Currim Chagla died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 81 of heart failure. He had been unwell for several years, and had suffered four heart attacks. True to his active and energetic nature, he had not let his health slow him down. On the day of his death, he went as usual to his club in Bombay and had a good time with his friends. He then slipped away to the dressing room and there,peacefully died. According to his wish, he was cremated instead of having a traditional Muslim burial. The Bombay High Court was closed to show respect for him, and several speeches were made in his memory, including one by a future Prime Minister
, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court itself, appropriately outside the Chief Justice's Court where once he served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:
"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."
The surname "Chagla" was not his original surname. In Chagla's autobiography, he recounted that in his youth, he was known as "Merchant" as both his father and grandfather were merchants. Hating the name due to its associations with money, he went to his grandfather one day and asked him as to what he should call himself. His grandfather promptly replied "Chagla" as his only son, Chagla's father, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi
language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.
"Roses In December, an autobiography," M.C. Chagla, Tenth Edition, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2000, ISBN 81-7276-203-8
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
from 1948 to 1958.
Active life and career
Born on 30 September 1900 in Bombay to a well-off Shia Muslim merchant family, Chagla suffered a lonely childhood owing to his mother's death in 1905. He was educated at St. Xavier's High School and College in Bombay, after which he went on to study at Lincoln CollegeLincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, Oxford University, from 1919 until 1922. He then was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamsetji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Chagla idolized Jinnah and held membership in the Muslim League, but severed all ties to Jinnah after he began to work for the cause of a separate Muslim state. He, along with others, then founded the Muslim Nationalist Party in Bombay, a party which was ignored and pushed aside in the independence struggle. He was appointed as Professor of law to Government Law College, Bombay in 1927, where he worked with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He was appointed as a judge to Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
in 1941, becoming Chief Justice in 1948 and serving in that capacity to 1958.
In 1946, Chagla was part of the first Indian delegation to the UN. From 4 October to 10 December, 1956, Chagla served as Acting Governor of the then state of Bombay, later broken up into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. Following his tenure as Chief Justice, he served as the one-man commission that examined the Finance Minister of India
Finance Minister of India
The Minister of Finance, also known as the Finance Minister of India is a cabinet position in the Government of India and heads the Ministry of Finance. He drafts the general budget of the country, and is in charge of the national economy. Currently, Pranab Mukherjee holds the charge of finance...
, T.T. Krishnamachari, over the controversial Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra was a Calcutta-based industrialist and stock speculator who was found guilty and imprisoned in the first big financial scandal of free India in the 1950s. The Mundhra scandal exposed the rifts between the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his son-in-law Feroze Gandhi, and...
L.I.C insurance scandal, which forced T.T. Krishnamachari's resignation as Finance Minister. Krishnamachari was quite close to Nehru and Nehru was therefore intensely angry at Chagla for his revelations of TTK's part in the affair, though he later forgave Chagla. From September 1957 to 1959, Chagla served as ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961. Chagla then served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963. Immediately on his return, he was asked to be a Cabinet Minister, which he accepted, and he served as Education Minister
Education minister
An education minister is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters.-Country-related articles and lists:Minister of Education may refer to:...
from 1963 to 1966, then served as the Minister for External Affairs of India from November 1966 to September 1967, after which he left government service. He then spent the remaining years of his life actively, continuing to practice law into his seventies.
As Minister of Education under Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, Chagla was distraught by the quality of education in government schools:
- Our Constitution fathers did not intend that we just set up hovels, put students there, give untrained teachers, give them bad textbooks, no playgrounds, and say, we have complied with Article 45 and primary education is expanding... They meant that real education should be given to our children between the ages of 6 and 14
Unfortunately, this comment remains true for Indian education even today
Personal life and family
In 1930, Chagla married Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj, and the couple had one daughter, Husnara, born in 1932, and two sons, Jehangir and Iqbal, born in 1934 and 1939, respectively. Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj died in November 1961.Last years and death
In 1973, Chagla published his autobiography, Roses in December, with the help of his son Iqbal. He vehemently protested against the Indian Emergency.Mohammed Currim Chagla died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 81 of heart failure. He had been unwell for several years, and had suffered four heart attacks. True to his active and energetic nature, he had not let his health slow him down. On the day of his death, he went as usual to his club in Bombay and had a good time with his friends. He then slipped away to the dressing room and there,peacefully died. According to his wish, he was cremated instead of having a traditional Muslim burial. The Bombay High Court was closed to show respect for him, and several speeches were made in his memory, including one by a future Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court itself, appropriately outside the Chief Justice's Court where once he served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:
"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."
Further facts
Chagla was an agnostic.The surname "Chagla" was not his original surname. In Chagla's autobiography, he recounted that in his youth, he was known as "Merchant" as both his father and grandfather were merchants. Hating the name due to its associations with money, he went to his grandfather one day and asked him as to what he should call himself. His grandfather promptly replied "Chagla" as his only son, Chagla's father, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi
Kutchi language
Kachhi Kachhi Kachhi (also spelt Cutchi, Kutchhi or Kachchhi, is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat as well as in Sindh.- Closely related languages :...
language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.
External links
M. C. Chagla (30 September 1900 – 9 February 1981), full name Mahommedali Currim Chagla, was a renowned Indian juristJurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
from 1948 to 1958.
Active life and career
Born on 30 September 1900 in Bombay to a well-off Shia Muslim merchant family, Chagla suffered a lonely childhood owing to his mother's death in 1905. He was educated at St. Xavier's High School and College in Bombay, after which he went on to study at Lincoln CollegeLincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, Oxford University, from 1919 until 1922. He then was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamsetji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Chagla idolized Jinnah and held membership in the Muslim League, but severed all ties to Jinnah after he began to work for the cause of a separate Muslim state. He, along with others, then founded the Muslim Nationalist Party in Bombay, a party which was ignored and pushed aside in the independence struggle. He was appointed as Professor of law to Government Law College, Bombay in 1927, where he worked with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He was appointed as a judge to Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
in 1941, becoming Chief Justice in 1948 and serving in that capacity to 1958.
In 1946, Chagla was part of the first Indian delegation to the UN. From 4 October to 10 December, 1956, Chagla served as Acting Governor of the then state of Bombay, later broken up into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. Following his tenure as Chief Justice, he served as the one-man commission that examined the Finance Minister of India
Finance Minister of India
The Minister of Finance, also known as the Finance Minister of India is a cabinet position in the Government of India and heads the Ministry of Finance. He drafts the general budget of the country, and is in charge of the national economy. Currently, Pranab Mukherjee holds the charge of finance...
, T.T. Krishnamachari, over the controversial Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra was a Calcutta-based industrialist and stock speculator who was found guilty and imprisoned in the first big financial scandal of free India in the 1950s. The Mundhra scandal exposed the rifts between the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his son-in-law Feroze Gandhi, and...
L.I.C insurance scandal, which forced T.T. Krishnamachari's resignation as Finance Minister. Krishnamachari was quite close to Nehru and Nehru was therefore intensely angry at Chagla for his revelations of TTK's part in the affair, though he later forgave Chagla. From September 1957 to 1959, Chagla served as ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961. Chagla then served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963. Immediately on his return, he was asked to be a Cabinet Minister, which he accepted, and he served as Education Minister
Education minister
An education minister is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters.-Country-related articles and lists:Minister of Education may refer to:...
from 1963 to 1966, then served as the Minister for External Affairs of India from November 1966 to September 1967, after which he left government service. He then spent the remaining years of his life actively, continuing to practice law into his seventies.
As Minister of Education under Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, Chagla was distraught by the quality of education in government schools:
- Our Constitution fathers did not intend that we just set up hovels, put students there, give untrained teachers, give them bad textbooks, no playgrounds, and say, we have complied with Article 45 and primary education is expanding... They meant that real education should be given to our children between the ages of 6 and 14
Unfortunately, this comment remains true for Indian education even today
Personal life and family
In 1930, Chagla married Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj, and the couple had one daughter, Husnara, born in 1932, and two sons, Jehangir and Iqbal, born in 1934 and 1939, respectively. Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj died in November 1961.Last years and death
In 1973, Chagla published his autobiography, Roses in December, with the help of his son Iqbal. He vehemently protested against the Indian Emergency.Mohammed Currim Chagla died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 81 of heart failure. He had been unwell for several years, and had suffered four heart attacks. True to his active and energetic nature, he had not let his health slow him down. On the day of his death, he went as usual to his club in Bombay and had a good time with his friends. He then slipped away to the dressing room and there,peacefully died. According to his wish, he was cremated instead of having a traditional Muslim burial. The Bombay High Court was closed to show respect for him, and several speeches were made in his memory, including one by a future Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court itself, appropriately outside the Chief Justice's Court where once he served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:
"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."
Further facts
Chagla was an agnostic.The surname "Chagla" was not his original surname. In Chagla's autobiography, he recounted that in his youth, he was known as "Merchant" as both his father and grandfather were merchants. Hating the name due to its associations with money, he went to his grandfather one day and asked him as to what he should call himself. His grandfather promptly replied "Chagla" as his only son, Chagla's father, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi
Kutchi language
Kachhi Kachhi Kachhi (also spelt Cutchi, Kutchhi or Kachchhi, is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat as well as in Sindh.- Closely related languages :...
language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.
External links
M. C. Chagla (30 September 1900 – 9 February 1981), full name Mahommedali Currim Chagla, was a renowned Indian juristJurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
from 1948 to 1958.
Active life and career
Born on 30 September 1900 in Bombay to a well-off Shia Muslim merchant family, Chagla suffered a lonely childhood owing to his mother's death in 1905. He was educated at St. Xavier's High School and College in Bombay, after which he went on to study at Lincoln CollegeLincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, Oxford University, from 1919 until 1922. He then was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamsetji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Chagla idolized Jinnah and held membership in the Muslim League, but severed all ties to Jinnah after he began to work for the cause of a separate Muslim state. He, along with others, then founded the Muslim Nationalist Party in Bombay, a party which was ignored and pushed aside in the independence struggle. He was appointed as Professor of law to Government Law College, Bombay in 1927, where he worked with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. He was appointed as a judge to Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court at Mumbai, Maharashtra, is the High Court of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra & Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
in 1941, becoming Chief Justice in 1948 and serving in that capacity to 1958.
In 1946, Chagla was part of the first Indian delegation to the UN. From 4 October to 10 December, 1956, Chagla served as Acting Governor of the then state of Bombay, later broken up into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
. Following his tenure as Chief Justice, he served as the one-man commission that examined the Finance Minister of India
Finance Minister of India
The Minister of Finance, also known as the Finance Minister of India is a cabinet position in the Government of India and heads the Ministry of Finance. He drafts the general budget of the country, and is in charge of the national economy. Currently, Pranab Mukherjee holds the charge of finance...
, T.T. Krishnamachari, over the controversial Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra
Haridas Mundhra was a Calcutta-based industrialist and stock speculator who was found guilty and imprisoned in the first big financial scandal of free India in the 1950s. The Mundhra scandal exposed the rifts between the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his son-in-law Feroze Gandhi, and...
L.I.C insurance scandal, which forced T.T. Krishnamachari's resignation as Finance Minister. Krishnamachari was quite close to Nehru and Nehru was therefore intensely angry at Chagla for his revelations of TTK's part in the affair, though he later forgave Chagla. From September 1957 to 1959, Chagla served as ad hoc judge to the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961. Chagla then served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963. Immediately on his return, he was asked to be a Cabinet Minister, which he accepted, and he served as Education Minister
Education minister
An education minister is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters.-Country-related articles and lists:Minister of Education may refer to:...
from 1963 to 1966, then served as the Minister for External Affairs of India from November 1966 to September 1967, after which he left government service. He then spent the remaining years of his life actively, continuing to practice law into his seventies.
As Minister of Education under Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, Chagla was distraught by the quality of education in government schools:
- Our Constitution fathers did not intend that we just set up hovels, put students there, give untrained teachers, give them bad textbooks, no playgrounds, and say, we have complied with Article 45 and primary education is expanding... They meant that real education should be given to our children between the ages of 6 and 14
Unfortunately, this comment remains true for Indian education even today
Personal life and family
In 1930, Chagla married Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj, and the couple had one daughter, Husnara, born in 1932, and two sons, Jehangir and Iqbal, born in 1934 and 1939, respectively. Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj died in November 1961.Last years and death
In 1973, Chagla published his autobiography, Roses in December, with the help of his son Iqbal. He vehemently protested against the Indian Emergency.Mohammed Currim Chagla died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 81 of heart failure. He had been unwell for several years, and had suffered four heart attacks. True to his active and energetic nature, he had not let his health slow him down. On the day of his death, he went as usual to his club in Bombay and had a good time with his friends. He then slipped away to the dressing room and there,peacefully died. According to his wish, he was cremated instead of having a traditional Muslim burial. The Bombay High Court was closed to show respect for him, and several speeches were made in his memory, including one by a future Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court itself, appropriately outside the Chief Justice's Court where once he served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:
"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."
Further facts
Chagla was an agnostic.The surname "Chagla" was not his original surname. In Chagla's autobiography, he recounted that in his youth, he was known as "Merchant" as both his father and grandfather were merchants. Hating the name due to its associations with money, he went to his grandfather one day and asked him as to what he should call himself. His grandfather promptly replied "Chagla" as his only son, Chagla's father, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi
Kutchi language
Kachhi Kachhi Kachhi (also spelt Cutchi, Kutchhi or Kachchhi, is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat as well as in Sindh.- Closely related languages :...
language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.
External links
"Roses In December, an autobiography," M.C. Chagla, Tenth Edition, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2000, ISBN 81-7276-203-8