M.C. Chagla and the ‘nationalist’ imaginations of a ‘political minority’ in India, 1947-67

This article is about some of the governmental experiences of the jurist/diplomat/minister M.C. Chagla, through which, it seeks to cast a certain light on the possibilities and limits of relations between a majority state and a minority individual, albeit of the privileged kind. His pre-eminent presence in Bombay’s legal fraternity from 1922 and the High Court from 1941 bequeathed to him a sense of belonginess, which was largely untouched by the upheavals of 1947. His 11 years as Chief Justice, followed by five years as India’s envoy in US/UK, saw him being elevated to the central cabinet, but not without a question mark, at his non-party and non-majority identity. His short ministerial stint till 1967 ended over two issues of identity politics – a domestic language policy and an international crisis – providing a prism to see the coming together of competence, concerns and convictions around cooperation across parties, classes and communities.