M. C. Chagla

Indian jurist, diplomat and Cabinet Minister

Mohammadali Carim Chagla (30 September 1900 – 9 February 1981) was an Indian jurist, diplomat, and Cabinet Minister who served as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from 1947 to 1958.

Born on 30 September 1900 in Bombay to a well off Gujarati Ismaili Khoja family, Chagla suffered a lonely childhood owing to his mother's death in 1905. His childhood was spent in their family mansion in near Nagdevi Street and Janjiker Lane, Khokha Bazar in Pydhonie. He later bought a mansion in Malabar Hill in 1934. He was educated at St. Xavier's High School and College in Bombay, after which he went on to study Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford, from 1918 to 1921, taking a BA in 1921 and MA in 1925. In 1922, he was admitted to the Bar of the Bombay High Court, where he worked with such illuminaries as Sir Jamshedji Kanga and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who would one day become the founder of Pakistan.

In 1930, Chagla married Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj, a lady of his own community and similar family background. Their marriage was harmonious and conventional. The couple had four children, two sons, Jehangir (b. 1934) and Iqbal (b. 1939) and two daughters, Husnara (b. 1932) and Nuru (b. 193x). Their son Iqbal Chagla became a lawyer; with his wife Roshan, he has a daughter (M. C. Chagla's granddaughter) Rohiqa, who is the widow of Cyrus Mistry, the former chairman of Tata Sons in the period 2014–2016. Iqbal's son Riaz (b. c. 1970) was himself appointed a judge of the Bombay High Court in July 2017. Chagla's younger daughter, Nuru, married Subbaram Swaminathan, a south Indian Hindu gentleman, son of politician Ammu Swaminathan and brother of captain Lakshmi Swaminathan and Mrinalini Sarabhai. Mehrunissa Dharsi Jivraj died in November 1961. Chagla survived her by nineteen years, dying in February 1981.

In 1973, Chagla published his autobiography, Roses in December, with the help of his son Iqbal. He vehemently protested against the Indian Emergency. He died on 9 February 1981, at the age of 80 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 former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled and placed within the High Court outside the Chief Justice's Court where he once served. The inscription on the statue plinth reads:

"A great judge, a great citizen, and, above all, a great human being."

Though born a Muslim, Chagla was more of 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 father, Chagla's great grandfather, had had Chagla as his pet name, which in the Kutchi language means "favourite". Chagla promptly adopted the new surname.