A barrister of Lincoln's Inn who dominated the Bombay Bar and civic life, Pherozeshah Mehta shaped the Bombay Municipal Act of 1872, founded the Bombay Presidency Association (1885) and the Bombay Chronicle, and was President of the Indian National Congress in 1890.
Drafted much of the Bombay Municipal Act 1872.
INC President, 1890.
Quick check: Who was known as the "Lion of Bombay"?
Dadabhai Naoroji
Badruddin Tyabji
Pherozeshah Mehta
K.T. Telang
Answer: C.
1884–1974
M.C. Setalvad
India's first Attorney General
Motilal Chimanlal Setalvad was the first Attorney General of India (1950–1963), the longest-serving holder of the office, and the first chairman of the Law Commission of independent India (1955–58), whose 14th Report on the reform of judicial administration remains a landmark. His autobiography is My Life: Law and Other Things. His father, Sir Chimanlal Setalvad, sat on the Hunter Committee after Jallianwala Bagh.
First and longest-serving Attorney General.
First chairman of the Law Commission of independent India.
Padma Vibhushan (1957).
Quick check: Who chaired the first Law Commission of independent India (1955)?
M.C. Setalvad
T.V. Venkatarama Aiyar
C.K. Daphtary
H.M. Seervai
Answer: A.
1893–1983
C.K. Daphtary
First Solicitor General, legendary wit
Chander Kishan Daphtary was the first Solicitor General of India (1950–1963) and then Attorney General (1963–1968). He was famous at the Bar for his quick wit and anecdotes, and was a mentor to generations of lawyers.
First Solicitor General of India.
Second Attorney General.
Quick check: Who was the first Solicitor General of India?
Niren De
S.V. Gupte
C.K. Daphtary
M.C. Setalvad
Answer: C.
1906–1996
H.M. Seervai
Author of Constitutional Law of India
Homi Maneckji Seervai was Advocate General of Maharashtra for seventeen years (1957–1974) and argued for the State of Kerala in Kesavananda Bharati. His three-volume treatise Constitutional Law of India is one of the most authoritative commentaries on the Constitution. He was a fierce critic of ADM Jabalpur and of the Emergency.
Advocate General of Maharashtra, 1957–74.
Argued against the petitioner in Kesavananda.
Quick check: Who wrote the treatise Constitutional Law of India and argued for Kerala in Kesavananda Bharati?
M.P. Jain
D.D. Basu
N.A. Palkhivala
H.M. Seervai
Answer: D.
1920–2002
Nani A. Palkhivala
The defender of the Constitution
Nanabhoy Ardeshir Palkhivala argued the Bank Nationalisation case, the Privy Purses case, Kesavananda Bharati (for the petitioner) and Minerva Mills, and is most closely associated with the basic structure doctrine. He appeared for Indira Gandhi in her election appeal but returned the brief when the Emergency was declared. His post-budget public lectures drew huge crowds to Bombay's Brabourne Stadium. He was Ambassador to the United States (1977–79) and wrote We, the People.
Argued Kesavananda Bharati and Minerva Mills.
Returned Indira Gandhi's brief after the Emergency.
Ambassador to the US, 1977–79.
Quick check: Which lawyer argued for the petitioner in Kesavananda Bharati?
H.M. Seervai
Nani Palkhivala
Fali Nariman
Niren De
Answer: B.
43 more entries under this heading
Fali S. Nariman · Conscience of the Bar
Soli J. Sorabjee · Champion of free speech
Ram Jethmalani · The lawyer who took the unpopular briefs
K. Parasaran · The "Pitamaha" of the Indian Bar
Shanti Bhushan · Raj Narain's lawyer
M.K. Nambyar · Counsel in the first great case
K.K. Venugopal · Attorney General at 86
Harish Salve · India's ₹1 lawyer at the ICJ
Indira Jaising · First woman Additional Solicitor General
Kapil Sibal · Advocate, minister, Bar leader
Mukul Rohatgi · 14th Attorney General
Tushar Mehta · Solicitor General of India
R. Venkataramani · The 16th Attorney General
M.C. Mehta · The environmental lawyer
Prashant Bhushan · Public interest litigator
Abhishek Manu Singhvi · India's youngest Additional Solicitor General
L.M. Singhvi · Jurist and diplomat
Rajeev Dhavan · Scholar and senior advocate
P.P. Rao · A lawyer's lawyer
Anil B. Divan · The judges' cases
Ashok Desai · Scholar-advocate
Niren De · Attorney General during the Emergency
N.C. Chatterjee · Lawyer and parliamentarian
Sir Chimanlal Setalvad · Dissented on the Hunter Committee into the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Sir Jamshedji Kanga · Mentor of Nani Palkhivala and co-author of Kanga and Palkhivala
Sir Hari Singh Gour · Founded the University of Sagar and wrote The Penal Law of India
Sir N.N. Sircar · Advocate General of Bengal and Law Member of the Viceroy's Council
Frank Anthony · Leader of the Anglo-Indian community and a senior advocate
V.M. Tarkunde · The "father of the civil liberties movement" in India
T.R. Andhyarujina · Wrote the inside story of the Kesavananda case
Anand Grover · Led the challenges in Naz Foundation and the Novartis case
Colin Gonsalves · Founded the Human Rights Law Network
Arvind P. Datar · Argued the Madras Bar Association tribunal cases
Dushyant Dave · A former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association
C.S. Vaidyanathan · Argued for Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya case
K.T.S. Tulsi · Leading criminal lawyer and former Additional Solicitor General
Raju Ramachandran · Amicus curiae in the Gujarat riots investigation
P. Chidambaram, Senior Advocate · Harvard-trained lawyer who became Finance and Home Minister
Menaka Guruswamy and Arundhati Katju · Argued the Navtej Singh Johar case
Rebecca John · Defended Priya Ramani against M.J. Akbar's defamation case
Karuna Nundy · Argued for criminalising marital rape
Kamini Jaiswal · Public interest litigator on judicial accountability
Vrinda Grover · Human rights lawyer and law reform advocate
PlusAll 48 entries, and every heading in the LibraryYours from ₹1,499, till CLAT 2028See Plus
