A natural aristocrat

THE NATION owes it to itself to pay a heartfelt homage to that illustrious Indian, the late Mohammed Carrim Chagla, whose birth centenary we in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan are privileged to mark with the publication of a deluxe centenary edition of his inimitable autobiography, Roses in December (Bhavan's Book University publication) for the post-Emergency seventh edition of which Loknayak Jaya Prakash Narayan contributed a memorable foreword. It was in that edition that Chagla added an epilogue on emasculation of judiciary in the form of supersession of judges in 1973 and on Emergency. Though Chagla was not a populist and was not cast in a heroic mould, he rose to his full stature in his righteously indignant condemnation of attacks on democracy and the rule of law. Jaya Prakash Narayan in his foreward described Chagla's unalloyed patriotism and fearless opposition to the Emergency as the crowning glory of his life and said that his inaugural address at the All India Civil Liberties Conference held in October 1975 in Ahmedabad, where a Janata Government with the veteran Gandhian Babubhai Jasbhai Patel as Chief Minister was then in office, read like a classic and reminded one of the Magna Carta.

``God gave us memory that we might have roses in December'' quoted the distinguished author of that most remarkable Indian autobiography. The memory of M. C. Chagla abides for ever in our hearts like the beauty and fragrance of roses for as Nani Palkhivala reminded us in the words of James Russel Lowell, ``his magic was not far to seek, he was so human,'' and ``whenever he met a stranger, there he left a friend.'' I recall the lines of a poem, H. M. Seervai, the then Advocate General, quoted in his speech at the Reference ceremony on the retirement of M. C. Chagla as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court:

``Kindliness and grace,

Excellent courtesy,

A brightness in the face

Airs of high memory,

Whence came all these to such as he?

No man less proud than he,

None asked for homage less;

Only, he could not be,

Far off from happiness,

Nature was bound to his success.''

Chagla was a great judge, one of the greatest in the galaxy of great Indian judges. As the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, he became a model for generations of judges and Chief Justices in our country. When he resigned from the Union Cabinet, I was privileged to welcome him to our table in the Supreme Court Bar Library which was shared, among others by Mr. M. C. Setalvad and Mr. C. K. Daphtary. I had also the privilege of being his vice-president when he was the president of our Supreme Court Bar Association. When he died I had the honour to pay the homage of the Indian Bar to his memory at the Reference in the Supreme Court where he spent the sunset years of his life after his resignation from the Central Cabinet. As a judge, he was incomparable, as a lawyer, he was unsurpassed in his quiet, elegant and persuasive advocacy.

M. C. Chagla joined the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet after having served as India's High Commissioner in London. He lent lustre to those high diplomatic offices. Equally distinguished was his contribution as Minister for Education and as Minister for External Affairs. I was a member of the Third Lok Sabha when he arrived on the parliamentary scene. He appointed the Kothari Commission and accorded Higher Education a position of priority in the scheme of national concerns. In Parliament, he commanded the respect of one and all.

M. C. Chagla was frank, forthright and fearless. He had the courage of his convictions. As a judge and in his public life, he was synonymous with integrity, probity and objectivity. His secularism was not an empty shibboleth for lip service but was based on sense of tolerance, progressive nationalism and dedication to the welfare of the people of India - Janakalyan. He wrote that he had imbibed the philosophy of non-attachment and doing one's duty from Bhagavad Gita. He had the innocence and nobility of an honest man, and the honesty and majesty of a noble soul. As a poet put it:

A noble soul is like a ship at seas,

That sleeps at anchor when the ocean's calm

But when she rages, and the wind blows high

He cuts his way with skill andmajesty.

Chagla belonged to a natural aristocracy based not on birth but on virtue, equanimity, robust patriotism, intrinsic goodness and boundless humanity. He lived above the fog of confusion in private thinking and in public duty. He was the kind of man a poet asked for when he wrote:

God give us Men! A time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands:

Men whom the lust of office does not kill:

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy:

Men who possess opinions and a will:

Men who have honour: Men who will not lie:

Men who can stand before a demagogue

And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!

Tall Men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog

In public duty and in private thinking.

To pay our tribute to the memory of M. C. Chagla on his birth centenary is to remember, recall and celebrate all that was good and noble in the life of our nation in the Twentieth century.

(Chagla's birth centenary fell on September 30)

L. M. SINGHVI

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