A statement that aptly tells us about the history of Indian scholars in the 19th century is “There are people who attained scholarly heights, reading under a street lamp”. A great legal legend to whom this lofty description still uniquely applicable is the late Sir T Muthuswamy Iyer of Thiruvarur, the first native Indian to be appointed as the judge of the Madras High Court (MHC) in 1878, an inspirational icon to this day in upholding the majesty of the Law as the MHC charter envisaged. He is also one of the first Indians to have a statue at the time.

Muthuswamy Iyer was born in a poor Brahmin family in in Vuchuwadi, Madras Presidency, British India on 28 January 1832. His family later shifted to Thiruvarur after his father’s demise. At Thiruvarur, Iyer found employment as village accountant. A few years later his mother also died soon afterward, leaving Iyer with little support. At this time, he was known to have read under the street lamp at nights, while working in early morning and evening. He entered the subordinate government service, and was employed in such various posts as school-teacher, record-keeper in Tanjore, and in 1856 deputy-inspector of schools. In 1854, Iyer won a prize of 500 rupees offered to the students of the Madras presidency by the council of education for the best English essay. This success brought him to the notice of Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot and Mr. Justice Holloway. He was offered help to proceed to England and compete for the civil service, but being a Brahmin and married, he declined to cross the ocean.

About this time, the Madras government instituted an examination for pleaders known as “Pleader’s Test”. In the examination held at Kumbakonam in February 1856, Iyer was the one to succeed by securing first position. On successfully passing the Pleader’s Test, Iyer was appointed District Munsiff of Tranquebar. He entered the Indian Civil Service and became Deputy Collector in 1859. And on 9th of July 1865, Iyer was appointed Sub-Judge of South Canara and served till July 1868, when he was appointed District Magistrate of police at Madras. While serving as the magistrate of police, Iyer obtained his law degree from the Presidency College, Madras. He also held a degree in Sanskrit at that time.

Iyer commenced his legal career immediately after graduation and was appointed as a judge of the Court of Small Causes in 1871. Later in 1877, Madras Government took the controversial decision to appoint him as the first Indian judge of the High Court of Madras. Muthuswamy Iyer served as a judge of the Madras High Court from 1877 to 1895. In 1877 he was also invited to attend the Coronation Durbar at Delhi. Despite of the fact that he was the first Indian to be appointed to such prestigious post, he was on the receiving end of a backlash from a Madras newspaper called The “Native Public Opinion”, which later instigated a strong reaction from Indian nationalists who founded The Hindu newspaper to voice public opinion.

In the later part of his life, he also served as the Acting Chief Justice, and was the first Indian to do so at the time.

As the President of the Commission, he campaigned for the legal recognition of Sambandham and other forms of marriage practised in the Malabar. Being a man of intellect, Iyer also stood up for the rights of women and in 1872, he advocated remarriage of Brahmin widows and established the Widow Remarriage Association in Madras. In 1878, Muthuswami Iyer was created a ‘Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire’ and was also knighted for his services to the Crown in 1893.

Being a devout Brahmin, Muthuswamy Iyer literally interpreted the dharma shastras and Hindu religious texts and rigorously followed them. One of his quotes from the time said “Religious institutions founded, endowed and maintained for the benefit of those sections of the Hindu Community who conform to certain recognized usages as those of the castes for whose benefit the temples are by immemorial usage dedicated as places of worship.” As a result of such statements, some of his speeches on caste and temple-entry have also been very controversial. In January 1895, Muthuswamy Iyer died after an illness of ten days. On his death, Sir S. Subramania Iyer took the seat in the bench of the Madras High Court. Iyer was acclaimed for his sharp intellect, memory and legal expertise. After his demise a white marble statue of Muthuswamy Iyer was erected in the precints of the Madras High Court campus on May 23, 1895. His imposing marble statue shows him in a sitting posture on the judge’s seat with a turban on his head and without any footwear because he considered the seat a divine place and used to remove his footwear before climbing up the dais to take his seat in his court hall.