Motilal Chimanlal Setalvad (c. 1884 – 1974) was an eminent

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

, who became the first and longest serving

Attorney General for India The Attorney General for India is the Indian government's chief legal advisor, and is its chief advocate in the courts. They are appointed by the President of India at the instance of the Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution an ...

(1950–1963). He also remained the Chairman of the first

Law Commission of India Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India. The Commission's function is to research and advise the Government of India on legal reform, and is composed of legal experts, and headed by a reti ...

(1955–1958), which has mandated for

legal reform Law reform or legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing change in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency. Intimately related are law reform bodies or law commissions, w ...

in the country by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. He became the first Chairman of the

Bar Council of India The Bar Council of India is a statutory body established under the section 4 of Advocates Act 1961 that regulates the legal practice and legal education in India. Its members are elected from amongst the lawyers in India and as such represents ...

in 1961. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

, India's second highest civilian honour by

in 1957.

Biography

The son of noted lawyer Sir

Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad KCIE (July 1864 – 10 December 1947) was an eminent Indian barrister and jurist who practiced in the Bombay High Court in the early 20th century. Life and background Chimanlal was born in July 1864 at Bharuch, ...

, M. C. Setalvad was brought up in Bombay. He studied at

Government Law College, Mumbai The Government Law College, Mumbai, (GLC Mumbai), founded in 1855, is the one of the oldest law schools in Asia. The college, affiliated to the University of Mumbai, is run by the Government of Maharashtra. Bal Gangadhar Tilak ,Pratibha Pa ...

. He started practicing law in Bombay and eventually became Advocate General of Bombay and Attorney General for India in 1950, in the formative years of Government of India, under

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

. He appeared for the government in a host of important and, at times, controversial cases. He was also involved with the Radcliffe Tribunal for demarcation of the India-Pakistan border and several UN proceedings on Kashmir. He chaired the first Law Commission of independent India, in which capacity he not just advised the government on crucial reforms and legislation but also created a framework for the Commission’s future functioning. He died in 1974.

Personal life

His son, Atul Setalvad (25 October 1933 - 22 July 2010) was a Mumbai-based lawyer and his daughter-in-law Sita Setalvad, a rural crafts exponent, while his granddaughter,

Teesta Setalvad Teesta Setalvad (born 9 February 1962) is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of ''Citizens for Justice and Peace'' (CJP), an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots. Personal life ...

, is an activist and journalist.

Bibliography

* ''My life; law and other things'', 1970. *

References

External links

M. C. Setalvad, Biography

Of reform and resistance

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Setalvad, M. C. 20th-century Indian lawyers 1880s births 1974 deaths Indian autobiographers Attorneys General of India Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha 19th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian biographers 20th-century Indian male writers mr:मोतीलाल चिमणलाल सेटलवाड