A moderate in politics, he endeavoured to see that the Congress was not captured by the extremists. To him, civic ideals and transparent public life constituted the quintessence of Liberalism. He was a creator of institutions, and besides being a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation, was President of the Corporation as well and played an important part in the reform of this institution. He was active in the Bombay Presidency Association and was its President; he was Advocate-General of Bombay, and member of the Imperial Legislative Council. He was associated with the University of Bombay and founded the daily newspaper, The Bombay Chronicle.