M.C. Chagla and the “Nationalist” Imaginations of a “Political Minority” in India, 1947–67

Abstract 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. Chagla’s 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 U.S./U.K., 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.