'Bold Voice Against Judicial Misconduct' : Bombay Bar Remembers Sr Adv Iqbal Chagla

One of India's leading lawyers and a doyen of the Bombay Bar Association (BBA), Senior Advocate Iqbal Chagla died on Sunday (January 12). The great human being, as he is usually referred to in the Bar Room, will be remembered always for his forthright attitude of 'calling a spade a spade' and always protecting the 'independence' of judiciary. He also was one of the most vocal advocates in Bombay Bar, who criticised the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's decision to impose an 'Emergency.'Iqbal, the son of former Bombay High Court Chief Justice MC Chagla, was unwell from last few days and died at the age of 86. He was the father of sitting judge of Bombay HC Justice Riyaz Chagla. Born in 1939, he obtained an MA in History and Law from Cambridge University. He was then called to the Bombay Bar and was in 1970s, conferred with Senior Advocate's gown.Senior Advocate Rafique Dada, who worked both along and against Chagla, while speaking to Live Law, remembered his days when Chagla led the BBA as its President and he (Dada) as the Vice President. The two seniors along with the Bar, passed resolutions against six sitting judges of the Bombay High Court, including then Chief Justice AM Bhattacharjee. "It was during his tenure as the President of the BBA, we faced some unfortunate times, as the integrity of some sitting judges of the HC were being questioned. I still remember Chagla did not mince words in criticising the misconduct of those judges, including that of then CJ Mr Bhattacharjee, whose integrity too was doubted. He (Chagla) was clear that there could be no compromise and thus, the Bar under his leadership, passed resolutions seeking resignations of all these problematic judges," Dada said.Notably, the five judges, faced allegations with the other Bar Association including the BBA demanding their resignations, claiming that these judges lost their trust and that the Bar does not have any confidence in them. As regards CJ Bhattacharjee, it is stated that he was embroiled in a 'scandal' pertaining to a book that he penned down and which was published by a 'non-existent' overseas publisher, which got him nearly $80,000 USD royalty. According to Dada, those were the 'unfortunate' days but during that time, Chagla stood firm on his decision to protect the judiciary and to oust the erring judges. "Chagla never thought twice while criticising the wrongs in the judiciary. He always supported and worked for the independence of judiciary. He was very much vocal against the executive and never did he indulged in pleasing any judge, political party, government, executive be it whosoever in power. He only was interested in protecting the independence of judiciary," Dada said. Weighing in Justice (retd.) Vidyasagar Kanade of the Bombay High Court, who has known Chagla for years, said that when advocates feared speaking against the judges, Chagla would not give a second thought about it. "Very few lawyers try to take up cudgels with judiciary but Chagla did not feared anyone. He never was scared to take up cudgels with the erring judges," Kanade recounted.Kanade too pointed out how Chagla led the BBA demanding the resignation of the five judges and also the then CJ of the High Court.Further, the senior counsel, who worked as Vice President under Chagla's Presidentship for a decade, said that Chagla, to protect the independence of judiciary, even became a petitioner in the Supreme Court. "That case pertained to the independence of the judiciary especially with the issue of harassment of judges. That time, he became one of the petitioners in the top court," Dada said. Chagla would always stand against anything that undermined the independence of judiciary and one such moment, which Justice (retd.) Vidyasagar Kanade recollects, was when Chagla criticised the Emergency period. "Mr Chagla was very much vocal against the Emergency. He even criticised the ADM Jabalpur judgment in the strongest possible words," Kanade said. For Emergency, Dada said, "My friend Chagla was also one of the most vocal advocates then against the Emergency. Though he was not the President or member of the BBA Committee but when judges were being harassed and superseded including Justice (HR) Khanna, we passed resolutions and criticised the said move of the then government."From 1990 to 1999, Chagla held the office of the President of the BBA - three terms. Besides, he also served as a Member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of India and a Member of the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA), Delhi. It would not be out of place to mention that Chagla refused to accept the offer of judgeship of the Supreme Court directly from the Bar. Had he accepted the offer, he would have become the Chief Justice of India (CJI) within a few years.One of the legal luminaries from the Bombay Bar, Chagla was one of the most sought-after counsels in civil litigation and company matters. He had completed nearly 60 years as a member of the BBA and had...

'Bold Voice Against Judicial Misconduct' : Bombay Bar Remembers Sr Adv Iqbal Chagla

Narsi Benwal

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'Bold Voice Against Judicial Misconduct' : Bombay Bar Remembers Sr Adv Iqbal Chagla

Narsi Benwal

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