M.C. Setalvad: India’s First Attorney General

When India became a republic, it needed a lawyer to speak for the government in its highest courts. The job went to a Bombay barrister who held it for thirteen years. No Attorney General since has stayed that long.

M.C. Setalvad stood at the centre of India’s early legal life. He argued cases for the Union, chaired the first Law Commission and wrote about the law for ordinary readers. Exams ask about his firsts and his dates.

1Who was M.C. Setalvad?

Motilal Chimanlal Setalvad was born in Bombay on 12 December 1884. His father, Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, was a well-known Bombay lawyer. The son followed him into the law.

He studied at Government Law College in Bombay. Then he began to practise at the Bombay High Court. In time he became one of its leading advocates.

Before independence he rose to be Advocate General of Bombay. That is the top legal post of a state. It prepared him for the national role that came next.

Why does this matter? He did not become a famous lawyer overnight. Years of court work in Bombay built the skill the new Republic needed.

• Born 12 December 1884 in Bombay.
• Son of the lawyer Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad.
• Studied at Government Law College, Bombay.
• Became Advocate General of Bombay.

2What did he do before 1950?

In 1947 India was being divided. A Boundary Commission under Cyril Radcliffe had to draw the new lines in Punjab. The Congress needed a strong lawyer to argue its case.

Setalvad was one of those who presented the Congress case before the Punjab Boundary Commission. It was a short and tense hearing. The stakes were towns, canals and villages.

He also took part in United Nations proceedings on Kashmir. India had taken the dispute there in 1948. A seasoned lawyer was needed for the argument.

Why does this matter? The work shows that he served the nation at its hardest hour. He was trusted with Partition and Kashmir before he held any national office.

• Argued for the Congress before the Punjab Boundary Commission, 1947.
• Commission chaired by Cyril Radcliffe.
• Took part in United Nations proceedings on Kashmir.
• Read about the Mountbatten Plan.

3What did the first Attorney General do?

On 28 January 1950 Setalvad became independent India’s first Attorney General. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. The Constitution had come into force only two days earlier.

The Attorney General advises the government on legal matters. He also appears for it in the Supreme Court and other courts. The President appoints him under Article 76.

Setalvad held the post until 1 March 1963. That is about thirteen years. He remains the longest-serving Attorney General, because most later holders served far less.

In A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras (1950), he appeared for the Union. The case tested the law on preventive detention. The Supreme Court upheld the law, and the case sparked a long debate on personal liberty.

Why does this matter? His years cover the first formative decade of the Republic. Many early constitutional questions reached the court while he was the Union’s lawyer.

• First Attorney General: 28 January 1950 to 1 March 1963.
• 13 years, the longest tenure.
• Appointed by the President under Article 76.
• Appeared for the Union in Gopalan, 1950.
• Read about the Attorney General and Article 22.

4What was the Law Commission’s work?

In 1955 the government set up the first Law Commission of independent India. Setalvad was its chairman. He held the post until 1958 while still serving as Attorney General.

The Commission studied how courts worked. Its best-known product was the 14th Report, submitted in 1958. It dealt with the reform of judicial administration.

The report looked at delays and the way cases moved through courts. It offered ideas to speed up justice. Many of those problems still sound familiar today.

The Law Commission is not a permanent statutory body. The government sets it up for a fixed term and then renews it. Setalvad helped shape the way it worked.

Why does this matter? He did two jobs at once. He argued for the government and also helped advise it on how the law itself should change.

• First Law Commission, chaired 1955-58.
• 14th Report, 1958: reform of judicial administration.
• Commission set up by the government for a fixed term.
• Read about the Law Commission of India.

5What did he do after 1963?

In 1957 the Government of India gave him the Padma Vibhushan. It is the country’s second-highest civilian honour. He received it while he was still Attorney General.

In 1961 he became the first Chairman of the Bar Council of India. This body governs the legal profession. It was a fitting role for a lawyer so respected by other lawyers.

From 1966 to 1972 he sat in the Rajya Sabha as a nominated member. That gave him a voice in Parliament on legal matters. He was in his eighties by then.

He also wrote. In 1968 he published a biography of the Bombay lawyer Bhulabhai Desai. In 1970 came his autobiography, “My Life: Law and Other Things”.

He died in 1974. His granddaughter Teesta Setalvad is a well-known activist and journalist. Why does this matter? His life shows a lawyer who served the state, the profession and the public through writing.

• Padma Vibhushan, 1957.
• First Chairman of the Bar Council of India, 1961.
• Nominated to the Rajya Sabha, 1966-72.
• Wrote “My Life: Law and Other Things” (1970).
• Died 1974.

6What are the exam traps?

• He was born in Bombay, and held the state post of Advocate General of Bombay.
• First Attorney General from 1950 to 1963, the longest tenure.
• The Law Commission he chaired ran 1955-58, not 1950-63.
• He was a nominated Rajya Sabha member, not an elected one.