Meritorious Mehta

The French government conferred one of its highest civilian honors, the Chevalier de L’Ordre National du Merite (National Order of Merit) on Dara P. Mehta, in acknowledgement of his unparalleled and untiring contribution to the preservation and causes of French education and culture in India. Mehta received the award in Bombay on January 2, 2011 at the hands of the French Consul General Francois Pujolas at a function at the Willingdon Club. Mehta, a solicitor with Little and Company for over five decades, concluded his acceptance speech with "Mr Consul General, now that you have given me this award I assure you that henceforth all my most beautiful dreams will be in French.”

(Clockwise, from top l): Francois Pujolas and Dara Mehta; Mehta and wife Vera (centre) with family; the National Order of Merit

Mehta is an international figure for matters related to corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and arbitration, as per a report in the online Legal Era website dated January 11, 2011. Impressions, the magazine of the Alliance Francaise de Bombay, in its issue of March 2011 mentions that Mehta has been regularly rendering legal advice to the Consulate of France in Bombay and has made significant contributions to French and international legal journals. He has also been advisor to several French companies that have established themselves in India.

While receiving the award Mehta mentioned he had been deeply impressed by the French system of law and the administration of justice. The principle of separation of powers enunciated by Montesqieu, a famous French legal thinker and political philosopher, greatly influenced members of the constituent assemblies of both the USA and India. He also spoke of the French institutions he has been associated with. In 1980 he was elected member of the executive committee of the Alliance Francaise de Bombay and has served as its vice president. He has been an elected member of the governing council of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a delegate on various missions to France where he interacted with French counterparts and executives of leading French companies.

Elaborating on the genesis of his Francophone connection, Mehta recalled that though he had studied French in school and college, his knowledge was "quite superficial and shallow.” In 1979 "by sheer accident” he was asked to become a member of Bombay’s Cercle Litteraire and Bibliotheque Dinshaw Petit which was established in 1887. He borrowed a French book but was unable to understand it, which resulted in his registering at the Alliance Francaise de Bombay for a diploma in higher studies in commerce. The Cercle Litteraire and Bibliotheque Dinshaw Petit, perhaps the only privately owned and managed French library in India, houses a collection of rare and priceless volumes on history, religion and philosophy and had served as a center for the Free French movement during the war years, he mentioned.