Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad KCIE (July 1864 – 10 December 1947) was an eminent Indian

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 ...

and

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 practiced in the

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 ...

in the early 20th century.

Life and background

Chimanlal was born in July 1864 at

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

, Bharuch district, then in the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

of British India and now part of the state of Gujarat. The eldest of four brothers, he was born into an aristocratic '' Brahmakshatriya'' family which had achieved distinction in the law for the preceding two generations. The surname ''Setalvad'' derives from the family's origins in the Punjab, where their surname was ''Talvad''. Some Talvads who were leaders of their community became known as ''Seth – Talvads'' ("Chiefs of the Talvads") which over time become "Setalvad". In the 18th century, some Setalvads migrated to present-day Gujarat and settled around

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

, serving as paymasters in the imperial Mughal armies. Chimanlal's grandfather, Ambashankar Brijrai Setalvad (1782–1853) worked for the East India Company in the early 19th century, initially as a ''sreshtadar'' (registrar) in the ''

Sadr Diwani Adalat The Ṣadr Dīwānī ʿAdālat ( ur, , bn, সদর দেওয়ানি আদালত ) (English: Sudder Dewanny Adawlut) was the Supreme Court of Revenue in British India established at Calcutta by Warren Hastings in 1772. It was reforme ...

'', the Supreme Civil Claims Court. He was subsequently appointed ''Sadr Amin'', or subordinate judge, for

Ahmedabad district {{Infobox settlement , name = Ahmedabad District , native_name = , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = District of Gujarat , image_skyline = D ...

. Soon becoming renowned for his legal acumen, he eventually rose to Principal ''Sadr Amin'', the highest judicial post then open to non-Europeans, and held the post at the time of his death. Chimanlal's father, ''

Rao Sahib Rai Sahib / Rao Saheb / Roy Sahib / Rao Sahib abbreviated R.S., was a title of honour issued during the era of British rule in India to individuals who performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was ac ...

'' Harilal Ambashankar Setalvad (1821–1899), also served as ''Sadr Amin'' of Ahmedabad and was awarded the title of ''Rao Sahib'' by the British government upon his retirement in 1877. He subsequently served as '' dewan'' of the

salute state A salute state was a princely state under the British Raj that had been granted a gun salute by the British Crown (as paramount ruler); i.e., the protocolary privilege for its ruler to be greeted—originally by Royal Navy ships, later also ...

of Limbdi.

Career

An alumnus of Elphinstone College, Mumbai, he served as Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University and as a member of the

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

's Executive Council. He also was founding President of Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, established by B.R. Ambedkar in 1924. Chimanlal was recognized by Gandhi as an impartial advocate of great integrity. While in favour of independence from Britain, Chimanlal was opposed to Partition; sadly, he lived to see Partition and its accompanying horrors become a reality before his death on 10 December 1947, aged 83.

Honours

Setalvad was knighted in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Jan ...

List. He was further appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in the

1924 Birthday Honours The 1924 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were p ...

list.

Family

He was the father of

M.C. Setalvad Motilal Chimanlal Setalvad (c. 1884 – 1974) was an eminent Indian jurist, who became the first and longest serving Attorney General for India (1950–1963). He also remained the Chairman of the first Law Commission of India (1955–1958), whic ...

, later Attorney General of India from 1950 to 1963. His great-granddaughter is Teesta Setalvad, a noted journalist and civil rights activist.

Works

* ''Recollections & reflections, an autobiography'', Padma Publications, 1946.

In popular culture

In the film '' Gandhi (1982)'', Chimanlal Setalvad is portrayed by Habib Tanvir as a member of the Hunter Commission, in which role he cross-examines General Dyer (credited in movie as Indian Barrister).

References

External links

Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Setlavad, Chimanlal Harilal 19th-century Indian lawyers 1864 births 1947 deaths Scholars from Mumbai Elphinstone College alumni Knights Bachelor Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights Gujarati people 20th-century Indian lawyers Members of the Bombay Legislative Council