An Icon of Judicial Resistance to British Colonialism

Syed Mahmood could have become a public figure as eminent as his father Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the educationist and social reformer who founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College (later the Aligarh Muslim University). Certainly, he had the potential for it. He knew at least seven languages ranging from English to Persian, Latin, and Sanskrit; wrote extensively in English and Urdu; and made notable contributions to the development of law and education in India. His early career indicated enormous promise. He won a government scholarship to study in England, and gained admission to Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was also called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn; joined the Indian Civil Service as a District Judge; and while in that position, officiated as a judge of the Allahabad High Court no less than four times. In 1887, he was made a permanent judge of the High Court. This achievement has to be viewed in context. Back then, a puisne judgeship of a High Court was the highest possible judicial appointment open to Indians. He was the first Muslim, and the first person from north India, to be made a permanent High Court judge. And he achieved this singular honour before he turned thirty-seven.

Yet, things went terribly wrong for him. He was known to be hot-tempered and a heavy drinker besides. His relations with Sir John Edge, the then-Chief Justice became increasingly fractious, with many charges and counter-charges traded between them. In 1893, merely six years after his appointment, he abruptly resigned from the Bench. His subsequent life was most unhappy.