M. C. Chagla

M. C. Chagla Biography

M. C. Chagla was an Indian jurist, diplomat and politician, who served as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from 1948 to 1958. He served as Indian High Commissioner in the UK from April 1962 to September 1963, and following his return, served as a cabinet minister from 1963 to 1967 serving the portfolios – education and External affairs. Roses in December – is his autobiography work published in the year 1973. In 1985, a statue of Chagla was unveiled within the premises of High Court.

He was born into a Muslim merchant family in the year 1900. ‘Merchant’ is his family name, though he accepted Chagla as surname. He lost his mother at the age of 5. After schooling he graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford in the year 1922. He got married Mehrunissa Dharsi and the couple had three children – One daughter and two sons. His daughter Nuru is married to Subbarama, the younger son of noted freedom fighter Ammu Swaminathan, and the brother of Captain Lakshmi – the celebrated freedom fighter and officer of INA, and Mrinalini Sarabhai, the celebrated classical dancer.

He started his career as a lawyer with Bombay High Court and has worked as assistant under Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sir Jamshedji Kanga etc. He idolized Mohammed Ali Jinnah and also joined Muslim League, though later broke the ties when Jinnah started to work for a separate Muslim nation in the free India. He served as the Professor of law to Government Law College, Mumbai in 1927 and got opportunity to work with B. R. Ambedkar. He joined Bombay High Court in 1941 as a judge and later reached the position Chief Justice in 1948, a position he held for next 10 days. He was a part of the first Indian delegation to the UN in 1946. After retirement he served as Indian ambassador to the USA from 1958 to 1961.

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Updated: September 25, 2017