He was appointed an additional judge at the Delhi High Court in February 1967 and was transferred to the Madras High Court in November 1967. He became Chief Justice of the court on 6 November 1979. On 8 July 1981 he tendered his resignation, following his transfer to the Kerala High Court as its Chief Justice.
On 27 October 1980, Ismail was sworn in as the acting Governor of Tamil Nadu in the place of Prabhudas Patwari.
Legacy
Ismail was a learned Tamil scholar of Kamba Ramayana. As the president of the Kamban Kazhagam, he was responsible for organising literary festivals focussing on classical Tamil literature.
