Sir Padamji Pestonji Ginwala (23 September 1875 – 18 April 1962) was a noted Parsi

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, economist and public figure based at Bombay, later at

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

and lastly at Calcutta.

Early life

He was born in Ankleshwar in Gujarat to Pestonji Nusserwanji and did his early education from Ahmadabad from government school.

Lawyer

He completed his study of Law from University of Cambridge ( Trinity Hall) and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1897. Two years later in 1899, he moved back to India and started practice as Advocate at

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...

Teacher

Also gave his service as a professor of History and Economics at Elphinstone College, Bombay from 1899–1900.

In Burma and British India

In year 1900 he shifted to

, Burma, where he practised as advocate at Chief Court of Lower Burma and also served as Editor of ''Burma Law Times'' from 1907–1910. In 1916, he served as Secretary to the

Burma Legislative Council The Legislative Council of Burma was the legislative body of British Burma from 1897 to 1936. Establishment It was established in 1897 as an advisory council to the British colonial governor, the Lieutenant-Governor of Burma, in drafting legislat ...

. He was member of Legislative Assembly of India from years 1921–23. He was the President of Rangoon Municipal Corporation for years 1921–22. Later he served as a member of Indian Tariff Board 1923–30 for which he served as president in 1926. He was knighted on 1 January 1927. He was also a delegate to Imperial Conference in 1930. He was one of the members of

Second round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...

of India in 1931, Ottawa Conference of 1932 and World Monetary and Economic Conference in 1933. He was one of the experts on fiscal and tariff affairs and headed many committee. He published an essay on Railway Electrification and Industrialization, which work was later published by Indian Chamber of Commerece in 1945 In January 1945, an Iron and Steel (Major) Panel was set up by the then Government to recommend measures for the expansion of the steel industry, which was headed by him.Eastern economist by Eastern economist – 1963– Page 1277 Later, he was Chairman of Tarminal Facilities Committee in 1947. Here is his speech in the

Indian Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometim ...

on 5 March 1923, it is about system of taxation:-

Later life

In 1945 before independence of India, he settled in Calcutta. During 1949–1952, he served as Director of Indian Iron & Steel Co. promoted by Calcutta-based industrialist,

Sir Ranjen Mookerjee Sir Rajendra Nath Mookerjee (or Rajen Mookerjee; 23 June 1854 – 15 May 1936) was a pioneering Bengali Indian industrialist.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976/1998), ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical di ...

Martin Burn Martin Burn Limited is a Real Estate Development firm based in Kolkata. History The history of Martin Burn Limited, generally referred to as Martin & Burn Co. goes back to 1890, when Sir Rajen Mookerjee in partnership with Sir Thomas Acquin Ma ...

. He also served as President of Calcutta-based, the

Indian Institute of Metals Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) was formed in Kolkata in 1946 under the leadership of Dr. Dara P. Antia, who was then Chief Metallurgist of Indian Aluminum Co. The IIM is over 60 years old premier professional Metallurgical Institute set up t ...

Awards, Honors & Prizes: International and Foreign 1998 by Jack Batten – 1997– Page 389

Death

He died in Calcutta, aged 86.

Memorials

In 1963, a gold medal was established by Indian Institute of Metals in his memory. The Sir Padamji Ginwala Gold Medal is awarded to recognise a candidate securing the highest marks in the Associate Membership Examination (Part-l) of the Institute.Indian Institute of Metals – Awards

Family

His son

Peston Padamji Ginwala Peston Padamji Ginwala (9 February 1919 – 2 July 2008) also known as Pesi Ginwala was a noted senior barrister from India, working at Calcutta High Court. Life-sketch He was born on 9 February 1919 in Rangoon to Sir Padamji Pestonji Ginwala, ...

(1919–2008) was also a senior barrister working at

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...

.The Parsees of Calcutta by Dalia Ray – 2005 – Page 56

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginwala, Padamji 1875 births 1962 deaths Indian barristers Knights Bachelor Indian Knights Bachelor Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India People from Bharuch district 19th-century Indian economists Indian editors Lawyers awarded knighthoods Scholars from Gujarat Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Legislative Council of Burma Scholars from Ahmedabad 20th-century Indian economists 20th-century Indian lawyers Scholars from Mumbai 20th-century Indian politicians Scholars from Kolkata 20th-century Burmese lawyers Parsi people Indian expatriates in British Burma Lawyers from British India