The path of senior counsel Iqbal Chagla and the Parsi community crossed several times. He married a Parsi, Roshan (née Motafram) and both their children chose Parsi spouses: daughter Rohiqa was married to the late Cyrus Mistry and son Riyaz is married to Niloufer. Chagla’s late sister Husnara had married Capt Zal Lalkaka of Air India. Chagla started his career with Sir Jamshedji Kanga. When the doyen of the bar stepped down he suggested Chagla join the chambers of Khurshedji Bhabha. "That was the best thing anyone could have suggested,” Chagla said (see "Chagla’s concern,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, December 7, 2013). "What amazing chambers they were where a galaxy of legal talent has begun their careers: Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabjee, Jangoo Khambata and a host of others.”
Iqbal Chagla: epitomized erudition and elegance
Chagla, who passed away in Bombay on January 12, 2025 at the age of 85 after a brief illness, fought without charge the notorious priest ban case where the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) forbade two priests, Ervads Khushroo Madon and Framroze Mirza, from performing funerary services for Parsis at Doongerwadi and two agiaries in Bombay controlled by the trust. The rationale: the duo performed funerary ceremonies for Parsis who opted for cremation! The two petitioners who took up the priests’ cause were Jamsheed Kanga and Homi Khusrokhan in the Bombay High Court (BHC) before a division bench of Justices Dr Dhananjay Chandrachud and Anoop Mohta.
On one day of the contentious hearing Chagla had stated "there is no such nomenclature as high priest in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. There is no such thing as a high priest or low priest they are all ordained priests,” for which he was attacked by the traditionalists who demanded ‘a public apology for his belittling of our religious leaders.’” A section of the Parsi Press also attacked Chagla causing Chandrachud to instruct the BPP/World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) combine to "apologize in a prominent publication… lawyers should not be targeted.” A division bench of the BHC ruled the trustees had no power under the trust deed to bar a duly ordained Parsi Zoroastrian priest from performing religious ceremonies at Doongerwadi, as well as the Godavara and Shapoorji Fakirji Jokhi agiaries.
Delivering the historic judgment on March 11, 2011 the two justices told a packed court room that if the trustees took onto themselves powers not conferred in the deed of trust there was "likely to be… grave abuse” of authority. Noting that times have changed since the judgment of Justices Dinshaw Davar and Frank Beaman of 1908 much of which would be "anathema” to people today, Chandrachud stated, "To place (matters) in perspective is not to destroy a faith.” The trustees do not have the powers to ordain or divest a priest of his ecclesiastical standing.
Chagla, along with lawyers Fredoon DeVitre, Jimmy Avasia, Edul Bharucha, Karl Tamboly, Yugandhara Khanwilkar, Rashna Dastur of Dastur, Dadhich and Kalambi, and Kartikeya and Associates, all fought the case without charge. The BPP on the other hand spent between three to five crore rupees (USD 347,407 to 579,011). One of the trustees claimed the amount was less but when asked to name a figure refrained from doing so.
Roshan was also in the news when she, along with Freny Ponda, Hilla Maitra, Dina Ahmadullah, Silloo Mathai and Roshni Anand moved the courts after the BPP refused to register the six on the electoral rolls because they had married non-Parsis. Justice P. B. Sawant of the BHC ruled that the women’s names be enrolled after filing of an affidavit stating they were Parsis and continued to profess the Zoroastrian faith. The women’s attorneys were Ashok Desai, B. N. Shroff and Roshan Dalvi instructed by Gagrat and Company and Jaykar and Company, all fighting pro bono.
Chagla epitomized erudition and elegance in his court craft, noted The Times of India (ToI) on the day following his death. "A luminary for the young, his dedication, integrity and excellence inspired a generations of lawyers,” was mentioned in the Bombay Bar Association’s tribute. "His contribution to the legal field is immeasurable, and his legal work will forever be remembered,” said Farhan Dubash, secretary of the Association.
"One of the reasons he was such a phenomenon was he was not only interested in law but also in art, literature, music and politics, which made him multifaceted,” senior advocate Navroz Seervai was quoted in The Indian Express (IE) of January 13. "If you entered a court as a stranger to law, and if you had seen him argue — his physical stature, the grace with which he carried himself, the fluency of his language and the simplicity with which he explained a complex point — it would make you realize that you are in the presence of someone great,” said Seervai.
Initially keen on journalism, Chagla studied law at Cambridge University in the 1950s, becoming a barrister from Gray’s Inn. At the age of 39 he was designated senior advocate. One of the most sought after lawyers for corporate houses, he handled many legal matters for them. He also advised his son-in-law Cyrus in his high profile battle with the Tata Group.
Darius Khambata, senior advocate at the BHC, former additional solicitor-general of India and former advocate-general, Maharashtra, in a tribute to his mentor in IE of January 16, wrote: "The passing of a legal titan, Iqbal Chagla, also perhaps heralds the passing of the golden era of the Bombay Bar. An era that prized a tradition of meticulous preparation, thorough research and, above all civility and sobriety in advocacy.
"Iqbal (known in the tradition of the Bombay Bar simply by his first name or by his pet name ‘Mickey’) joined the Bar at the Bombay High Court as the son of a legend, Chief Justice M. C. Chagla. This was as much of a burden as a boon. For although he reaped the warmth of a Bar beholden to his father, he also carried the heavy weight of expectation. It was a burden he bore lightly. Ever mindful of his legacy, he achieved greatness and earned fame in his own right.
"Beneath that faintly forbidding exterior was a joie de vivre and a steadfast adherence to principle. Throughout his career he displayed integrity in the face of temptation, clarity in the face of chaos, valor in the face of adversity.
"I was truly privileged to be his junior. He taught by example. At conferences, in between the puffs of his pipe artfully cradled in his palm, you learnt the art of sorting the wheat from the chaff, reducing a complex maze of facts to their core legal elements and diplomatically turning down suggestions that did not meet the most exacting standards of intellect and ethics,” said Khambata.
The legal luminary is survived by his wife Roshan, son Riyaz, daughter Rohiqa Mistry and brother Jehangir.