Mehr Chand Mahajan

Mehr Chand Mahajan
Mehr Chand Mahajan
3rd Chief Justice of India
	In office; 4 January 1954 – 22 December 1954
Appointed by	Rajendra Prasad
Preceded by	M. Patanjali Sastri
Succeeded by	Bijan Kumar Mukherjea
2nd Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir
	In office; 15 October 1947 – 5 March 1948
Preceded by	Ram Chandra Kak
Succeeded by	Sheikh Abdullah
Personal details
Born	December 23, 1889
Died	1967

Mehr Chand Mahajan (born December 23, 1889, Tika Nagrota, Kangra district–1967) was the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. Prior to that he was the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir during the reign of Maharaja Hari Singh and played a key role in the accession of J&K to India. He was the Indian National Congress nominee on the Radcliff Commission that defined the boundaries of India and Pakistan.

Justice Mahajan made his name as an accomplished lawyer, a respected judge, and an influential politician. As a judge he was incisive and forthright and had many leading judgments to his credit.

Career as a lawyer

Mahajan started his career as a lawyer in 1913 in Dharmshala, where he spent a year practising. He spent the next four years (1914-1918) as a lawyer in Gurdaspur. He then practiced law in Lahore from 1918 to 1943. During his time there, he served as president of the High Court Bar Association of Lahore (1938 to 1943).

Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir

Mahajan was Prime Minister of J&K during 1947 and played a role in the accession of the state to India. He was the one who turned down the offer of district Lahore and instead annexed district Gurdaspur to India.

Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India

Mahajan took office as the third Chief Justice of India on January 4, 1954. He was the head of India's judicial system for almost a year, until his retirement on December 22, 1954 (mandatory retirement at age 65). Before becoming Chief Justice he served as one of the first Judges of the Supreme Court of independent India from October 4, 1948 to January 3, 1954.