Shaukat C. Chagla Memorial Trust

About Barrister Shaukat C. Chagla

        Barrister Shaukat C Chagla was born in Mumbai on October 14th, 1925. He was the youngest among his brothers and sisters of the illustrious Chagla family and grew up at his family home "Amiji Villa" at the mouth of Nepean Sea Road.

        Shaukat did his schooling at Masters Tutorial High School. This was followed by a college education at the esteemed St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He went on to procure his law degree at the Government Law College, affiliated to the then Bombay University. As most eminent jurists of that time, he went abroad and obtained his BAR at law at Lincoln's Inn, London.

        As a young man, Shaukat was very independent. He went to the UK on a loan scholarship. While studying abroad he did many odd jobs including working in a post office in England.

        On his return to India he grew in stature as an eminent Barrister in Bombay. In 1961, he married Nalini S. Uplekar, Maharashtra's no. 1 badminton player and a young aspiring advocate. His friends would joke, "The only running Shaukat did was from court to court!"

        Shaukat was an avid cricketer and his claim to fame was when he faced the Mumbai Ranji Trophy speedster Mr. Saeed Hatteea at the Bombay Gymkhana Nets. He was well known for his sense of humour. One day at net practice, he walked up to Mr. Saeed Hatteea and said, "I don't mind you bowling as quick as like but kindly shorten your run-up as the wait is killing me!" He was particularly admired for his quick reflexes and sharp catches and often fielded in the slips.

         Shaukat also wrote newspaper columns, the most famous one being a regular feature titled BAR to BAR. He was credited with a number of famous cases and was appointed Senior Counsel to the Government of India. He was renowned for some of his brilliant arguments during various cases at time of the Emergency. Shaukat stood for the State Assembly Elections in 1972 and was a key member of the Youth Congress. He was voted amongst the top five citizens of Mumbai and served on many forums and committees including the telephone advisory committee. Once he had recommended a young doctor to get a telephone on a priority basis. His only request was that the doctor telephone him once he got his phone! It so happened that this doctor came to Barrister Chagla with a gift. He was so upset that he requested this doctor to leave and take his gift back as he was merely doing his duty. He was always ready to lend a hand to the poor and the underprivileged.

        Shaukat's rich life and illustrious career was felled with his untimely death in 1977 due to colonic cancer, which had even spread to the brain. He was impressed by the surgeons who treated him during his illness, particularly Dr. K.N. Dastur who had conducted India's first ever open heart surgery. Shaukat expressed a desire that his young son take up surgery. Today, his son, Aadil Chagla, is Professor of Neurosurgery at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and his daughter, Leena Chagla Agarwal, is a Breast and Upper Gastro-Intestinal Surgeon in the UK.

        Shaukat won many accolades and awards throughout his career and was regularly featured in the media. He was extremely talented and had many hobbies. He would tinker around with his cars on weekends or enjoy repairing his old radio set.

         In his younger days Shaukat played many musical instruments including the mandolin and piano, but he chose to master the clarinet. He had a 16-piece jazz band and a trio called 'Amateurs' which won many local competitions. He even mastered the famous 'Concerto for Clarinets in C minor', which was until then only played by the world famous clarinettist "Artie Shaw". Shaukat regularly performed on the radio and even cut records, one of which had Soli Sarabji introducing the 'Amateur Trio'. He was fondly called 'Shaw' as a short form of his first name 'Shau'kat but more so because he played with the same skills as Artie Shaw. When he went to England his friends remarked that England would not send him back to India as they had very few great jazz clarinettists. He even composed music for dance groups in the UK.

        He was multifaceted and was ever ready to do something for the poor and the down-trodden, whether it was interacting with the members of the chawl behind his home or conducting a legal battle to see justice is done.

The Shaukat C. Chagla Memorial Trust has been created in order to continue where the late Shaukat Chagla left off.