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{{Short description|15th Chief Justice of India}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox Judge
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Mirza Hameedullah Beg
| image = File:Justice M. Hameedullah Beg.jpg
| caption =
| source =
| order = 15th
| office = Chief Justice of India
| termstart = 29 January 1977
| termend = 21 February 1978
| nominator =
| appointer = [[Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed]]
| predecessor = [[A. N. Ray]]
| successor = [[Y. V. Chandrachud]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1913|2|22}}
| birth_place = [[Lucknow]], British India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1988|11|19|1913|2|22}}
| death_place =
| spouse =
}}
'''Mirza Hameedullah Beg''' (M. H. Beg) (22 February 1913 – 19 November 1988<ref>George H. Gadbois, Jr.: [http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198070610.001.0001/acprof-9780198070610-chapter-13?rskey=dOpety&result=4&q=privy%20purse Judges of the Supreme Court of India: 1950 – 1989]</ref>) was the 15th [[Chief Justice of India]], serving from January 1977 to February 1978.

==Early life and education==
Born into a [[Muslim]] family, his father [[Mirza Samiullah Beg]] was the Chief Justice of [[Hyderabad State]], making him an important figure in Hyderabad state affairs.
He was real uncle of internationally acclaimed beautician Shahnaz Hussain.

As was the case with many children of aristocracy in Hyderabad at the time, M.H. Beg attended [[St. George's Grammar School (Hyderabad)|St. George's Grammar School]], where he earned a [[gold medal]] for first position in Senior Cambridge H.S.L.C. Examination.

As India was still under heavy British influence, it was common for wealthy Indians to receive higher education in England, particularly when studying law. Thus, M.H. Beg joined the renowned [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] and [[Cambridge University]] in 1931, and earned Honours in Archaeological and Anthropological and Historical Triposes. He studied law, economics and politics at the [[London School of Economics]]. He joined the bar through the Honourable Society of [[Lincoln's Inn]]. He was called to the Bar in England in 1941.

===Judicial career===
After graduation, M.H. Beg returned to India to begin practising as an Advocate for the [[Allahabad High Court]], at [[Allahabad]] and [[Meerut]]. From here, M.H. Beg began working up experience in the judicial system. In 1949, he enrolled as an Advocate of the Federal Court of India, and eventually he became an Advocate of the [[Supreme Court of India]]. After building up an extensive practice on all sides he became Standing Counsel to the U.P. Sunni Central Wakf Board and appeared frequently for Municipal bodies.

After experience as Counsel, Beg was then raised to the Bench of the [[Allahabad High Court]] on 11 June 1963. As Judge, he sat on the Criminal and Civil sides as well as on the Tax Bench. Later, he was appointed Company Judge and became in charge of the matrimonial and testamentary jurisdiction of the High Court from the middle of 1967 to 1970. Shortly after territories were redrawn and the state of [[Himachal Pradesh]] was established, M.H. Beg was appointed [[Chief Justice]] of the [[Himachal Pradesh High Court]] in January 1971.<ref>[http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/bio/mhbeg.htm Biography on NIC webpage]</ref>

After a short term as Chief Justice of the [[Himachal Pradesh High Court]], Beg was elevated to Judge of the [[Supreme Court of India]] on 12 December 1971.

===Habeas Corpus case===
Beg was also involved in the Habeas Corpus case. This landmark case in Indian democracy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214020/http://openarchive.in/judis/5622.htm ''Additional District Magistrate of Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla''], came up in 1975 during the [[The Emergency (India)|Indian Emergency]]. The legal question hinged on the citizen's right to judicial scrutiny for arrests under emergency. The five seniormost judges of the Supreme court heard the case, and four aligned with the government view that even the right to life stood suspended during emergency (only dissent was [[H. R. Khanna]]). In his April 1976 decision, Justice Beg observed:
{{quote|We understand that the care and concern bestowed by the state authorities upon the welfare of {{sic|?|detenues}} who are well housed, well fed and well treated, is almost maternal.<ref>
{{cite book
|title = Violation of democratic rights in India, v. 2
|author = Akshayakumar Ramanlal Desai
|year = 1986
|publisher = Popular Prakashan, New Delhi}} p. 84</ref>}}

A few months later, in January 1977, M.H. Beg, who was junior to H. R. Khanna, was appointed [[Chief Justice of India]] by the [[Indira Gandhi]] government. This was against legal tradition, though it had started with [[A. N. Ray]]'s appointment. This impingement into the independence of the judiciary was widely protested;<ref name=scba>{{cite web|url=http://www.lexsite.com/services/network/scba/history.shtml |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-11-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004035407/http://www.lexsite.com/services/network/scba/history.shtml |archive-date=4 October 2009 }}</ref> subsequent law ministers, particularly [[Shanti Bhushan]], initiated a series of measures to bring judicial appointments within the power of the Chief Justice, and not the executive.

After [[Mohammad Hidayatullah]], Beg was the second Muslim Chief Justice in India. After a one-year term, Beg retired on February 1978.

Subsequently, Beg served as chairman of the [[National Commission for Minorities|Minorities Commission of India]]<ref>http://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=2101</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/congress-rafale-supreme-court-justice-ak-sikri-dipak-misra-5540218/|title=Congress and the judicial chokehold|date=2019-01-16|website=The Indian Express|language=en-IN|access-date=2019-01-16}}</ref>

===Academics===
While practising as an Advocate, Beg took on various faculty positions teaching various subjects:
*Professor, Constitutional Law and Equity at [[Meerut College]] (1943–1946)
*Taught Law of Evidence, Human Law, and Ancient Law at [[Allahabad University]](1946–1963)
*Standing Counsel to the [[Allahabad University]]
*Member of the International Law Association and of the World Association of Judges

Since Retirement, Beg has written two books discussing Muslim politics in India:

*''Impact of Secularism on Life and Law'', published in 1985
*''Human Rights and Asia'', published in 1978

===Awards===
* 1. 1988 [[Padma Vibhushan]] India's second highest civilian award for his contribution towards Law and Public Affairs

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://books.google.com/books?ei=FWKmTZ-FGOL10gHQmuntDQ&ct=result&id=_KCRAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22late+Hameedullah+Beg%22&q=%22Hameedullah+Beg%22#search_anchor Reference to the "late M. Hameedullah Beg"]

{{s-start}}
{{S-legal}}
{{succession box | title=[[Chief Justice of India]] | before=[[Ajit Nath Ray]] | after=[[Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud]] | years= January 1977 – February 1978}}
{{s-end}}

{{Chief Justices of India}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beg, Mirza Hameedullah}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Indian barristers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian judges]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Chief Justices of India]]
[[Category:Scholars from Lucknow]]
[[Category:Judges of the Allahabad High Court]]
[[Category:Chief Justices of the Himachal Pradesh High Court]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]

Mirza Hameedullah Beg - Revision history

imported>ItsSkV08: Fix