MC Chagla Courageously Spoke Truth To Power : Justice Riyaz Chagla Remembers His Grandfather

Justice Chagla said that it was "fitting in today's context" that Justice DY Chandrachud chose to talk about "Speaking Truth to Power," as it couldn't have been more amply explained than by his later grandfather's work.

Speaking at the 6th Chief Justice MC Chagla Memorial Lecture held virtually, Justice RI Chagla read the preface written by his father for the centenary edition of Justice Chagla's autobiography 'Roses in December.'

Son of Justice MC Chagla & Senior Advocate Iqbal Chagla recalls that the emergency was a "time like no other," and unbearable for a liberal democrat like Justice MC Chagla, but it couldn't deter him.

"The fears, the suspicions the feeling of absolute helplessness when the very essence of freedom was assailed and almost irretrievably lost. For a liberal democrat like my father, it was unbearable. He had never been to jail….But it never deterred him for a moment from doing everything in his power to strike out against the forces of dictatorship."

Their home was a meeting place, a refuge, an oasis for many who had gone underground or were in imminent danger of being detained.

"I went with him to Ahmedabad and was present when he made his historic speech in October 1975. The hall was packed to capacity and as this man of 75 who had suffered three heart attacks spoke, there was not a hint of age or illness but only courage and faith and belief. It's the most eloquent testimony I have heard of the spirit of freedom.

His concluding words are as historic as they are poetic -

"The written transcript is a plain shadow of the spoken words wondering as they were and in the context of emergency, it left me stunned and speechless and made my hair stand on end," Senior Advocate Chagla writes quoting Justice MC Chagla.

He said there was tumultuous applause and a standing ovation. "But I had only fear in my heart, and as we boarded the plane, I was certain we would be detained at Bombay Airport."

Justice Chagla's introductory remarks were followed by an address by Justice DY Chandrahcud, Supreme Court judge, on the topic "Speaking truth to power : Citizens and the Law".

One Can't Rely Only On The State To Determine Truth; Speaking Truth To Power Both A Citizen's Right & Duty: Justice Chandrachud