M. M. Ismail (8 February 1921 – 17 January 2005) was an Indian politician who served as the acting

Governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by t ...

and a Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.M.M. Ismail dead
(The Hindu, 17 September 2008)

Early life

Ismail was born in

Nagore Nagore is a town in the Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located approximately 12 km North of Karaikal and 5 km South of Nagapattinam. Nearby towns are Karaikal, Tiruvarur, and Velankanni. It has a population of appr ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

on 8 February 1921. He studied at the

Madras Law College Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, commonly known by its former name Madras Law College, is a law school, located in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. It is also referred to as Government Law College or GLC, Chennai. It was established in ...

in 1945, after completing his mathematics (honours) degree from the

Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

Work life

He was appointed an additional judge at the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S ...

in February 1967 and was transferred to the Madras High Court in November 1967. He became Chief Justice of the court on 6 November 1979. On 8 July 1981 he tendered his resignation, following his transfer to the Kerala High Court as its Chief Justice. On 27 October 1980, Ismail was sworn-in as the acting Governor of Tamil Nadu in the place of Prabhudas Patwari.

Legacy

Ismail was a learned Tamil scholar of Kamba Ramayana. As the president of the

Kamban Kazhagam Kamban Kazhagam (Kamban Academy) is a Tamil organization which was founded to promote Ramayana of Tamil poet Kambar. The organisation was formed by Tamil politician Saw Ganesan at Karaikudi in 1939. Kamban Kazhagam Chennai was fortified by R.M.V ...

, he was responsible for organising literary festivals focussing on classical Tamil literature.

References

Governors of Tamil Nadu Presidency College, Chennai alumni 1921 births 2005 deaths Indian Muslims Chief Justices of the Madras High Court 20th-century Indian judges Judges of the Delhi High Court {{TamilNadu-politician-stub